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Title: Historical Record of the Twelfth, or the East Suffolk, Regiment of Foot, Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1685, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1847
Author: Cannon, Richard
Language: English
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OR THE EAST SUFFOLK, REGIMENT OF FOOT, CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THE
FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT IN 1685, AND OF ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES TO
1847***
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Transcriber's note:
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HISTORICAL RECORD
OF
THE TWELFTH, OR THE EAST SUFFOLK,
REGIMENT OF FOOT,
CONTAINING
AN ACCOUNT OF THE FORMATION OF THE
REGIMENT IN 1685,
AND OF ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES
TO 1847.
Compiled by
RICHARD CANNON, ESQ.
Adjutant-General's Office, Horse Guards.
Illustrated with Plates.
London:
Parker, Furnivall & Parker,
30 Charing Cross.
M DCCC XLVIII.
London: Printed by W. Clowes & Sons, Stamford Street,
for Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
GENERAL ORDERS.
_HORSE-GUARDS_,
_1st January, 1836_.
His Majesty has been pleased to command that, with a view of doing
the fullest justice to Regiments, as well as to Individuals who
have distinguished themselves by their Bravery in Action with the
Enemy, an Account of the Services of every Regiment in the British
Army shall be published under the superintendence and direction
of the Adjutant-General; and that this Account shall contain the
following particulars, viz.:--
---- The Period and Circumstances of the Original Formation of
the Regiment; The Stations at which it has been from time to time
employed; The Battles, Sieges, and other Military Operations
in which it has been engaged, particularly specifying any
Achievement it may have performed, and the Colours, Trophies,
&c., it may have captured from the Enemy.
---- The Names of the Officers and the number of Non-Commissioned
Officers and Privates Killed or Wounded by the Enemy, specifying
the Place and Date of the Action.
---- The Names of those Officers who, in consideration of their
Gallant Services and Meritorious Conduct in Engagements with the
Enemy, have been distinguished with Titles, Medals, or other
Marks of His Majesty's gracious favour.
---- The Names of all such Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers,
and Privates, as may have specially signalized themselves in
Action.
And,
---- The Badges and Devices which the Regiment may have been
permitted to bear, and the Causes on account of which such Badges
or Devices, or any other Marks of Distinction, have been granted.
By Command of the Right Honourable
GENERAL LORD HILL,
_Commanding-in-Chief_.
JOHN MACDONALD,
_Adjutant-General_.
PREFACE.
The character and credit of the British Army must chiefly depend
upon the zeal and ardour by which all who enter into its service
are animated, and consequently it is of the highest importance that
any measure calculated to excite the spirit of emulation, by which
alone great and gallant actions are achieved, should be adopted.
Nothing can more fully tend to the accomplishment of this desirable
object than a full display of the noble deeds with which the
Military History of our country abounds. To hold forth these bright
examples to the imitation of the youthful soldier, and thus to
incite him to emulate the meritorious conduct of those who have
preceded him in their honourable career, are among the motives that
have given rise to the present publication.
The operations of the British Troops are, indeed, announced in the
"London Gazette," from whence they are transferred into the public
prints: the achievements of our armies are thus made known at the
time of their occurrence, and receive the tribute of praise and
admiration to which they are entitled. On extraordinary occasions,
the Houses of Parliament have been in the habit of conferring on
the Commanders, and the Officers and Troops acting under their
orders, expressions of approbation and of thanks for their skill
and bravery; and these testimonials, confirmed by the high honour
of their Sovereign's approbation, constitute the reward which the
soldier most highly prizes.
It has not, however, until late years, been the practice (which
appears to have long prevailed in some of the Continental armies)
for British Regiments to keep regular records of their services
and achievements. Hence some difficulty has been experienced in
obtaining, particularly from the old Regiments, an authentic
account of their origin and subsequent services.
This defect will now be remedied, in consequence of His Majesty
having been pleased to command that every Regiment shall, in
future, keep a full and ample record of its services at home and
abroad.
From the materials thus collected, the country will henceforth
derive information as to the difficulties and privations which
chequer the career of those who embrace the military profession. In
Great Britain, where so large a number of persons are devoted to
the active concerns of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and
where these pursuits have, for so long a period, been undisturbed
by the _presence of war_, which few other countries have escaped,
comparatively little is known of the vicissitudes of active
service, and of the casualties of climate, to which, even during
peace, the British Troops are exposed in every part of the globe,
with little or no interval of repose.
In their tranquil enjoyment of the blessings which the country
derives from the industry and the enterprise of the agriculturist
and the trader, its happy inhabitants may be supposed not often to
reflect on the perilous duties of the soldier and the sailor,--on
their sufferings,--and on the sacrifice of valuable life, by which
so many national benefits are obtained and preserved.
The conduct of the British Troops, their valour, and endurance,
have shone conspicuously under great and trying difficulties; and
their character has been established in Continental warfare by the
irresistible spirit with which they have effected debarkations in
spite of the most formidable opposition, and by the gallantry and
steadiness with which they have maintained their advantages against
superior numbers.
In the official Reports made by the respective Commanders, ample
justice has generally been done to the gallant exertions of the
Corps employed; but the details of their services and of acts of
individual bravery, can only be fully given in the Annals of the
various Regiments.
These Records are now preparing for publication, under His
Majesty's special authority, by Mr. RICHARD CANNON, Principal Clerk
of the Adjutant General's Office; and while the perusal of them
cannot fail to be useful and interesting to military men of every
rank, it is considered that they will also afford entertainment and
information to the general reader, particularly to those who may
have served in the Army, or who have relatives in the Service.
There exists in the breasts of most of those who have served, or
are serving, in the Army, an _Esprit de Corps_--an attachment
to everything belonging to their Regiment; to such persons a
narrative of the services of their own Corps cannot fail to prove
interesting. Authentic accounts of the actions of the great, the
valiant, the loyal, have always been of paramount interest with
a brave and civilized people. Great Britain has produced a race
of heroes who, in moments of danger and terror, have stood "firm
as the rocks of their native shore;" and when half the World has
been arrayed against them, they have fought the battles of their
Country with unshaken fortitude. It is presumed that a record of
achievements in war,--victories so complete and surprising, gained
by our countrymen, our brothers, our fellow-citizens in arms,--a
record which revives the memory of the brave, and brings their
gallant deeds before us, will certainly prove acceptable to the
public.
Biographical memoirs of the Colonels and other distinguished
Officers will be introduced in the Records of their respective
Regiments, and the Honorary Distinctions which have, from time to
time, been conferred upon each Regiment, as testifying the value
and importance of its services, will be faithfully set forth.
As a convenient mode of Publication, the Record of each Regiment
will be printed in a distinct number, so that when the whole shall
be completed, the Parts may be bound up in numerical succession.
INTRODUCTION TO THE INFANTRY.
The natives of Britain have, at all periods, been celebrated for
innate courage and unshaken firmness, and the national superiority
of the British troops over those of other countries has been
evinced in the midst of the most imminent perils. History contains
so many proofs of extraordinary acts of bravery, that no doubts can
be raised upon the facts which are recorded. It must therefore be
admitted, that the distinguishing feature of the British soldier is
INTREPIDITY. This quality was evinced by the inhabitants of England
when their country was invaded by Julius Cæsar with a Roman army,
on which occasion the undaunted Britons rushed into the sea to
attack the Roman soldiers as they descended from their ships; and,
although their discipline and arms were inferior to those of their
adversaries, yet their fierce and dauntless bearing intimidated
the flower of the Roman troops, including Cæsar's favourite tenth
legion. Their arms consisted of spears, short swords, and other
weapons of rude construction. They had chariots, to the axles of
which were fastened sharp pieces of iron resembling scythe-blades,
and infantry in long chariots resembling waggons, who alighted and
fought on foot, and for change of ground, pursuit, or retreat,
sprang into the chariot and drove off with the speed of cavalry.
These inventions were, however, unavailing against Cæsar's
legions: in the course of time a military system, with discipline
and subordination, was introduced, and British courage, being
thus regulated, was exerted to the greatest advantage; a full
development of the national character followed, and it shone forth
in all its native brilliancy.
The military force of the Anglo-Saxons consisted principally of
infantry: Thanes, and other men of property, however, fought on
horseback. The infantry were of two classes, heavy and light. The
former carried large shields armed with spikes, long broad swords
and spears; and the latter were armed with swords or spears only.
They had also men armed with clubs, others with battle-axes and
javelins.
The feudal troops established by William the Conqueror consisted
(as already stated in the Introduction to the Cavalry) almost
entirely of horse; but when the warlike barons and knights, with
their trains of tenants and vassals, took the field, a proportion
of men appeared on foot, and, although these were of inferior
degree, they proved stout-hearted Britons of stanch fidelity. When
stipendiary troops were employed, infantry always constituted a
considerable portion of the military force; and this _arme_ has
since acquired, in every quarter of the globe, a celebrity never
exceeded by the armies of any nation at any period.
The weapons carried by the infantry, during the several reigns
succeeding the Conquest, were bows and arrows, half-pikes, lances,
halberds, various kinds of battle-axes, swords, and daggers. Armour
was worn on the head and body, and in course of time the practice
became general for military men to be so completely cased in steel,
that it was almost impossible to slay them.
The introduction of the use of gunpowder in the destructive
purposes of war, in the early part of the fourteenth century,
produced a change in the arms and equipment of the infantry-soldier.
Bows and arrows gave place to various kinds of fire-arms, but
British archers continued formidable adversaries; and owing to the
inconvenient construction and imperfect bore of the fire-arms when
first introduced, a body of men, well trained in the use of the bow
from their youth, was considered a valuable acquisition to every
army, even as late as the sixteenth century.
During a great part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth each company
of infantry usually consisted of men armed five different ways; in
every hundred men forty were "_men-at-arms_," and sixty "_shot_;"
the "men-at-arms" were ten halberdiers, or battle-axe men, and
thirty pikemen; and the "shot" were twenty archers, twenty
musketeers, and twenty harquebusiers, and each man carried, besides
his principal weapon, a sword and dagger.
Companies of infantry varied at this period in numbers from 150
to 300 men; each company had a colour or ensign, and the mode of
formation recommended by an English military writer (Sir John
Smithe) in 1590 was:--the colour in the centre of the company
guarded by the halberdiers; the pikemen in equal proportions, on
each flank of the halberdiers; half the musketeers on each flank
of the pikes; half the archers on each flank of the musketeers;
and the harquebusiers (whose arms were much lighter than the
muskets then in use) in equal proportions on each flank of the
company for skirmishing.[1] It was customary to unite a number
of companies into one body, called a REGIMENT, which frequently
amounted to three thousand men; but each company continued to carry
a colour. Numerous improvements were eventually introduced in the
construction of fire-arms, and, it having been found impossible to
make armour proof against the muskets then in use (which carried
a very heavy ball) without its being too weighty for the soldier,
armour was gradually laid aside by the infantry in the seventeenth
century: bows and arrows also fell into disuse, and the infantry
were reduced to two classes, viz.: _musketeers_, armed with
matchlock muskets, swords, and daggers; and _pikemen_, armed with
pikes from fourteen to eighteen feet long, and swords.
In the early part of the seventeenth century Gustavus Adolphus,
King of Sweden, reduced the strength of regiments to 1000 men; he
caused the gunpowder, which had heretofore been carried in flasks,
or in small wooden bandoliers, each containing a charge, to be
made up into cartridges, and carried in pouches; and he formed
each regiment into two wings of musketeers, and a centre division
of pikemen. He also adopted the practice of forming four regiments
into a brigade; and the number of colours was afterwards reduced to
three in each regiment. He formed his columns so compactly that his
infantry could resist the charge of the celebrated Polish horsemen
and Austrian cuirassiers; and his armies became the admiration of
other nations. His mode of formation was copied by the English,
French, and other European states; but so great was the prejudice
in favour of ancient customs, that all his improvements were not
adopted until near a century afterwards.
In 1664 King Charles II. raised a corps for sea-service, styled
the Admiral's regiment. In 1678 each company of 100 men usually
consisted of 30 pikemen, 60 musketeers, and 10 men armed with light
firelocks. In this year the king added a company of men armed with
hand-grenades to each of the old British regiments, which was
designated the "grenadier company." Daggers were so contrived as to
fit in the muzzles of the muskets, and bayonets similar to those
at present in use were adopted about twenty years afterwards.
An Ordnance regiment was raised in 1685, by order of King James
II., to guard the artillery, and was designated the Royal Fusiliers
(now 7th Foot). This corps, and the companies of grenadiers, did
not carry pikes.
King William III. incorporated the Admiral's regiment in the Second
Foot Guards, and raised two Marine regiments for sea-service.
During the war in this reign, each company of infantry (excepting
the fusiliers and grenadiers) consisted of 14 pikemen and 46
musketeers; the captains carried pikes; lieutenants, partisans;
ensigns, half-pikes; and serjeants, halberds. After the peace in
1697 the Marine regiments were disbanded, but were again formed on
the breaking out of the war in 1702.[2]
During the reign of Queen Anne the pikes were laid aside, and every
infantry soldier was armed with a musket, bayonet, and sword; the
grenadiers ceased, about the same period, to carry hand-grenades;
and the regiments were directed to lay aside their third colour:
the corps of Royal Artillery was first added to the army in this
reign.
About the year 1745, the men of the battalion companies of infantry
ceased to carry swords; during the reign of George II. light
companies were added to infantry regiments; and in 1764 a Board of
General Officers recommended that the grenadiers should lay aside
their swords, as that weapon had never been used during the seven
years' war. Since that period the arms of the infantry soldier have
been limited to the musket and bayonet.
The arms and equipment of the British troops have seldom differed
materially, since the Conquest, from those of other European
states; and in some respects the arming has, at certain periods,
been allowed to be inferior to that of the nations with whom they
have had to contend; yet, under this disadvantage, the bravery and
superiority of the British infantry have been evinced on very many
and most trying occasions, and splendid victories have been gained
over very superior numbers.
Great Britain has produced a race of lion-like champions who have
dared to confront a host of foes, and have proved themselves
valiant with any arms. At _Creçy_, King Edward III., at the head
of about 30,000 men, defeated, on the 26th of August, 1346, Philip
King of France, whose army is said to have amounted to 100,000
men; here British valour encountered veterans of renown:--the
King of Bohemia, the King of Majorca, and many princes and nobles
were slain, and the French army was routed and cut to pieces. Ten
years afterwards, Edward Prince of Wales, who was designated the
Black Prince, defeated, at _Poictiers_, with 14,000 men, a French
army of 60,000 horse, besides infantry, and took John I., King of
France, and his son Philip, prisoners. On the 25th of October,
1415, King Henry V., with an army of about 13,000 men, although
greatly exhausted by marches, privations, and sickness, defeated,
at _Agincourt_, the Constable of France, at the head of the flower
of the French nobility and an army said to amount to 60,000 men,
and gained a complete victory.
During the seventy years' war between the United Provinces of the
Netherlands and the Spanish monarchy, which commenced in 1578 and
terminated in 1648, the British infantry in the service of the
States-General were celebrated for their unconquerable spirit and
firmness;[3] and in the thirty years' war between the Protestant
Princes and the Emperor of Germany, the British troops in the
service of Sweden and other states were celebrated for deeds of
heroism.[4] In the wars of Queen Anne, the fame of the British
army under the great MARLBOROUGH was spread throughout the world;
and if we glance at the achievements performed within the memory
of persons now living, there is abundant proof that the Britons
of the present age are not inferior to their ancestors in the
qualities which constitute good soldiers. Witness the deeds of
the brave men, of whom there are many now surviving, who fought in
Egypt in 1801, under the brave Abercromby, and compelled the French
army, which had been vainly styled _Invincible_, to evacuate that
country; also the services of the gallant Troops during the arduous
campaigns in the Peninsula, under the immortal WELLINGTON; and
the determined stand made by the British Army at Waterloo, where
Napoleon Bonaparte, who had long been the inveterate enemy of Great
Britain, and had sought and planned her destruction by every means
he could devise, was compelled to leave his vanquished legions to
their fate, and to place himself at the disposal of the British
Government. These achievements, with others of recent dates in the
distant climes of India, prove that the same valour and constancy
which glowed in the breasts of the heroes of Creçy, Poictiers,
Agincourt, Blenheim, and Ramilies, continue to animate the Britons
of the nineteenth century.
The British Soldier is distinguished for a robust and muscular
frame,--intrepidity which no danger can appal,--unconquerable
spirit and resolution,--patience in fatigue and privation, and
cheerful obedience to his superiors. These qualities, united with
an excellent system of order and discipline to regulate and give
a skilful direction to the energies and adventurous spirit of
the hero, and a wise selection of officers of superior talent to
command, whose presence inspires confidence,--have been the leading
causes of the splendid victories gained by the British arms.[5]
The fame of the deeds of the past and present generations in the
various battle-fields where the robust sons of Albion have fought
and conquered, surrounds the British arms with a halo of glory;
these achievements will live in the page of history to the end of
time.
The records of the several regiments will be found to contain a
detail of facts of an interesting character, connected with the
hardships, sufferings, and gallant exploits of British soldiers in
the various parts of the world where the calls of their Country
and the commands of their Sovereign have required them to proceed
in the execution of their duty, whether in active continental
operations, or in maintaining colonial territories in distant and
unfavourable climes.
The superiority of the British infantry has been pre-eminently set
forth in the wars of six centuries, and admitted by the greatest
commanders which Europe has produced. The formations and movements
of this _arme_, as at present practised, while they are adapted
to every species of warfare, and to all probable situations
and circumstances of service, are calculated to show forth the
brilliancy of military tactics calculated upon mathematical and
scientific principles. Although the movements and evolutions have
been copied from the continental armies, yet various improvements
have from time to time been introduced, to insure that simplicity
and celerity by which the superiority of the national military
character is maintained. The rank and influence which Great Britain
has attained among the nations of the world, have in a great
measure been purchased by the valour of the Army, and to persons
who have the welfare of their country at heart, the records of the
several regiments cannot fail to prove interesting.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] A company of 200 men would appear thus:--
__|
| |
|__|
|
20 20 20 30 2|0 30 20 20 20
Harquebuses. Muskets. Halberds. Muskets. Harquebuses.
Archers. Pikes. Pikes. Archers.
The musket carried a ball which weighed 1/10 of a pound; and the
harquebus a ball which weighed 1/25 of a pound.
[2] The 30th, 31st, and 32nd Regiments were formed as Marine corps
in 1702, and were employed as such during the wars in the reign
of Queen Anne. The Marine corps were embarked in the Fleet under
Admiral Sir George Rooke, and were at the taking of Gibraltar, and
in its subsequent defence in 1704; they were afterwards employed at
the siege of Barcelona in 1705.
[3] The brave Sir Roger Williams, in his Discourse on War, printed
in 1590, observes:--"I persuade myself ten thousand of our nation
would beat thirty thousand of theirs (the Spaniards) out of the
field, let them be chosen where they list." Yet at this time the
Spanish infantry was allowed to be the best disciplined in Europe.
For instances of valour displayed by the British Infantry during
the Seventy Years' War, see the Historical Record of the Third
Foot, or Buffs.
[4] Vide the Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of
Foot.
[5] "Under the blessing of Divine Providence, His Majesty ascribes
the successes which have attended the exertions of his troops in
Egypt to that determined bravery which is inherent in Britons; but
His Majesty desires it may be most solemnly and forcibly impressed
on the consideration of every part of the army, that it has been a
strict observance of order, discipline, and military system, which
has given the full energy to the native valour of the troops, and
has enabled them proudly to assert the superiority of the national
military character, in situations uncommonly arduous, and under
circumstances of peculiar difficulty."--_General Orders in 1801._
In the General Orders issued by Lieut.-General Sir John Hope
(afterwards Lord Hopetoun), congratulating the army upon the
successful result of the Battle of Corunna, on the 16th of January,
1809, it is stated:--"On no occasion has the undaunted valour of
British troops ever been more manifest. At the termination of a
severe and harassing march, rendered necessary by the superiority
which the enemy had acquired, and which had materially impaired
the efficiency of the troops, many disadvantages were to be
encountered. These have all been surmounted by the conduct of the
troops themselves; and the enemy has been taught, that whatever
advantages of position or of numbers he may possess, there is
inherent in the British officers and soldiers a bravery that knows
not how to yield,--that no circumstances can appal,--and that will
ensure victory, when it is to be obtained by the exertion of any
human means."
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF
THE TWELFTH, OR THE EAST SUFFOLK,
REGIMENT OF FOOT,
CONTAINING
AN ACCOUNT OF THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT
IN 1685,
AND OF ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES
TO 1847.
COMPILED BY
RICHARD CANNON, ESQ.
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, HORSE GUARDS.
ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES.
LONDON:
PARKER, FURNIVALL, & PARKER,
30 CHARING CROSS.
M DCCC XLVIII.
LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES & SONS, STAMFORD STREET,
FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.
THE TWELFTH, OR THE EAST SUFFOLK,
REGIMENT OF FOOT
BEARS ON ITS REGIMENTAL COLOUR
THE WORD _MINDEN_; THE WORD _GIBRALTAR_,
With the _Castle and Key_ and the Motto, _Montis Insignia Calpé_;
AND THE WORDS
"SERINGAPATAM" AND "INDIA;"
IN COMMEMORATION OF ITS DISTINGUISHED SERVICES
AT THE BATTLE OF _MINDEN_
ON THE 1st AUGUST, 1759;
IN THE GLORIOUS DEFENCE OF _GIBRALTAR_
FROM THE YEAR 1779 TO 1782;
AT THE STORMING AND CAPTURE OF _SERINGAPATAM_
ON THE 4th MAY, 1799;
and of its Gallant Conduct on many arduous Duties in INDIA
from the Year 1798 to 1807.
CONTENTS.
Year Page
1685 Formation of the Regiment 1
1686 Station and Establishment 2
---- Arms and Uniform 3
1687 Names of the Officers 4
1688 Assembled on Hounslow-heath -
1689 Inspected at Hull after the Revolution 5
---- Embarked for Ireland 6
---- Engaged at the Siege of Carrickfergus -
---- Advanced to Dundalk -
---- Death of its Colonel, Henry Wharton, and of
many soldiers by disease 7
1690 Engaged at Cavan 8
---- ---- the battle of the Boyne 9
---- ---- the siege of Waterford -
---- ---- the first siege of Limerick -
---- ---- Lanesborough -
1691 Marched to Mullingar 10
---- Engaged with the Rapparees --
---- ---- at the siege of Ballymore 11
---- ---- at the storming of Athlone --
---- ---- at the battle of Aghrim --
---- ---- at the siege of Galway 12
---- Surrender of Limerick, and termination of the
war in Ireland --
---- Embarked from Kinsale for Plymouth 13
1692 ---- for the coast of France --
---- Proceeded to Ostend, and took possession of
Furnes and Dixmude --
---- Returned to England --
1693 Remained in England --
1694 Embarked for Flanders 13
---- Engaged at the siege of Huy 14
1695 ---- ---- ---- attack on Fort Kenoque --
---- ---- ---- ---- defence of Dixmude --
---- Surrender of Dixmude to the French 15
---- Released from Prisoners of War and placed
in garrison at Malines --
1696 Marched to Ostend and Bruges 16
---- Encamped and stationed in and near Bruges --
1697 Marched to Brabant --
---- Encamped before Brussels 17
---- Peace of Ryswick --
---- Returned to England --
1699 Proceeded to Ireland --
1702 War with France and Spain --
1703 Embarked for the West Indies 18
1704 Proceeded to Jamaica --
1705 Returned to England --
1708 Embarked as Marines 19
---- Landed at Ostend --
---- Employed to escort ammunition, &c. to the army
besieging Lisle 20
---- Surrender of Lisle 21
1709 Returned to England --
1710 Reviewed at Portsmouth --
1712 Embarked for Spain --
1713 Peace of Utrecht --
---- Proceeded to Minorca 22
1719 Returned to England from Minorca --
1722 Reviewed by King George I. --
1739 Remained in England twenty years --
1740 Embarked as Marines --
1742 -------- for Flanders 23
1743 Marched to Germany --
---- Engaged at the battle of Dettingen --
1743 Returned to Flanders 24
1744 Engaged in operations on the Scheldt --
1745 Advanced to the relief of Tournay --
---- Engaged at the battle of Fontenoy 25
---- Casualties at the battle of Fontenoy 26
---- Returned to England 27
---- Engaged in suppressing the Rebellion --
1746 Proceeded to Scotland --
1747 Returned to England 28
1748 Embarked for Holland --
---- Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle --
---- Returned to England --
1749 Embarked for Minorca --
1751 Royal Warrant issued for regulating Clothing,
Colours, &c. --
1752 Returned to England 29
1755 Commencement of the Seven years' War with France --
1757 Second Battalion added to establishment --
1758 Second Battalion constituted the 65th Regiment --
---- Embarked for Germany 30
---- Marched into quarters at Munster --
1759 Battle of Minden 31
---- Royal Authority to bear the word "MINDEN" on the
colours and appointments 33
---- Entered cantonments at Osnaburg 34
1760 Arrived at Paderborn --
---- Encamped at Fritzlar 34
---- ----------- Kalle --
---- Marched to engage the French at Warbourg --
---- Went into quarters at Paderborn 35
1761 Advanced into Hesse --
---- Engaged at Kirch Denkern, &c. --
1762 ---------- Groebenstein and Wilhelmsthal 36
---- ---------- Lutterberg --
1762 Engaged at Homburg 37
---- ---------- the siege of Cassel --
1763 Peace of Fontainbleau --
---- Returned to England --
1764 Proceeded to Scotland --
1769 Embarked for Gibraltar 38
1779 Attack of Gibraltar by the Spaniards --
1780} {39
1781} Siege and Defence continued {to
1782} {47
1783 Returned to England 48
---- Styled the East Suffolk Regiment --
1784 Reviewed at Windsor by King George III. --
1788 Proceeded to Jersey and Guernsey 49
1790 Embarked as Marines --
---- Returned to Portsmouth --
1791 Embarked for Ireland --
1793 Flank companies embarked for the West Indies --
1794 --------------- engaged at Martinico 50
---- -------------------------- St. Lucia --
---- -------------------------- Guadaloupe --
---- Battalion companies embarked for Flanders 51
---- Engaged at Werwick, and on the Lys --
---- ------- in the relief of Ypres 52
---- ------- near Boxtel 53
---- Retired beyond the river Maese 54
1795 Returned from Holland 55
---- Flank companies returned from the West Indies --
---- Embarked on an expedition for the coast of France --
1796 Embarked for the East Indies 56
1797 Arrived at Madras --
---- Embarked for Manilla --
---- Returned to Madras 57
1798 Proceeded to Tanjore in the Carnatic 58
1799 Engaged in operations against Tippoo Saib 59
---- Advanced against Seringapatam 60
---- Action near Malleville --
---- Storming and Capture of Seringapatam 65
---- Received the Royal Authority to bear the word
"SERINGAPATAM" on the colours and appointments 70
1800 Proceeded against the tribes of the Wynaad country 71
1801 Returned to Seringapatam --
---- Proceeded to Trichinopoly --
1802 Two companies returned from Java 72
---- Three companies employed against the
Polygans --
1805 Marched to Seringapatam --
1807 Proceeded to Cannanore --
1808 Embarked for the port of Coulan in the Travancore
country 73
---- Serjeant Tilsey and 33 men destroyed
by the Natives 74
---- Operations in the Travancore country 75
---- Returned to Seringapatam 81
---- Proceeded to Trichinopoly --
1810 Flank companies proceeded against the Isle of Bourbon 81
---- Embarked against the Mauritius, or the Isle of France 82
---- Capture of the Mauritius 83
1811 Stationed at the Mauritius 85
1812 Second Battalion added to the Establishment and
embarked for Ireland --
1813 First Battalion proceeded from the Mauritius to the
Isle of Bourbon --
1814 Island of Bourbon restored to France 86
1815 Proceeded to the Island of Mauritius on its being
retained as a Colony of Great Britain --
1815 Second Battalion returned to England, and embarked
for Flanders 86
---- ---------------- advanced to Paris --
1816 ---------------- returned to England, and proceeded
to Ireland 87
---- First Battalion continued at the Mauritius --
1817 --------------- returned to England --
---- --------------- proceeded to Ireland --
1818 Second Battalion reduced, and incorporated with
the First Battalion 88
1820 Embarked for England --
1821 Proceeded to Portsmouth, and thence to Jersey and
Guernsey --
1823 Returned to England 89
---- Embarked for Gibraltar --
1825 Augmented to ten Companies, six Service, and four
Depôt Companies --
1827 Presentation of new colours with the authorised
Inscriptions conferred as Honourable Distinctions --
1828 Casualties from an epidemic disease at Gibraltar 90
1834 Returned to England 91
1835 Embarked for Ireland --
1837 Formed into six Service, and four Depôt Companies,
and embarked for the Mauritius --
1838 Depôt Companies remained in Ireland --
1839 Augmentation of the Establishment --
---- Depôt Companies embarked for Wales --
1840 --------------- proceeded to Scotland --
1841 --------------- returned to South Britain --
1842 Augmentation to two Battalions 92
1843 Reserve Battalion arrived at the Mauritius --
1847 First Battalion Embarked for England --
1848 The Conclusion --
SUCCESSION OF COLONELS.
Year Page
1685 Henry Duke of Norfolk 93
1686 Edward Earl of Lichfield 94
1688 Robert Lord Hunsdon 95
---- Henry Wharton --
1689 Richard Brewer 96
1702 John Livesay --
1712 Richard Phillips 97
1717 Thomas Stanwix --
1725 Thomas Whetham 98
1741 Scipio Duroure 99
1745 Henry Skelton --
1757 Robert Napier --
1766 Henry Clinton 100
1779 William Picton 101
1811 Charles Hastings, Bart. 102
1823 Hon. Robert Meade 103
PLATES.
Costume of the Regiment _to face_ 1
Colours of the Regiment " 28
Attack of Gibraltar in 1782 " 48
Storming and Capture of Seringapatam in 1799 " 70
[Illustration: _Madelay Lith. 3 Wellington S^t Strand._
TWELFTH FOOT.
1848.
_For Cannons Military Records._]
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF
THE TWELFTH, OR THE EAST SUFFOLK
REGIMENT OF FOOT.
[Sidenote: 1685]
After the Restoration in 1660, when King Charles II. had disbanded
the army of the commonwealth, a number of non-regimented companies
of foot were embodied for garrisoning the fortified towns, and one
company was constantly stationed at Windsor, to furnish a guard at
the castle. This company sent a detachment to Virginia in 1676.
It was commanded by HENRY DUKE OF NORFOLK, Governor and Constable
of Windsor Castle, and was united to several companies raised in
the summer of 1685, and constituted a regiment, of which the DUKE
OF NORFOLK was appointed Colonel, by commission dated the 20th of
June, 1685. This regiment having been retained in the service to
the present time, now bears the title of the TWELFTH, OR THE EAST
SUFFOLK, regiment of foot.
The formation of this regiment was occasioned by the rebellion
of James Duke of Monmouth, who assembled an army in the west of
England to support his pretensions to the throne; and King James
II. found it necessary to make a considerable augmentation to the
regular army. The companies, of which the regiment was composed,
were raised in Norfolk, Suffolk, and the adjoining counties, by
Henry Duke of Norfolk, Captains Henry Wharton, Charles Macartney,
Dominick Trant, Jasper Patson, Charles Howard, Francis Blathwayt,
Sir Alphonso de Mottetts, and George Trapp: the general rendezvous
of the regiment was at Norwich, and as the several companies were
formed, they were quartered at Norwich, Yarmouth, and Lynn.
[Sidenote: 1686]
The formation of the regiment was not completed when the rebel
army was defeated at Sedgemoor, and the Duke of Monmouth was
captured soon afterwards, and beheaded; but King James resolved
to retain the newly raised corps in his service, and the Duke of
Norfolk's regiment was ordered to march to London. It was quartered
a few days, in the beginning of August, in the Tower Hamlets, and
afterwards encamped on Hounslow-heath, where it was reviewed by
the King. In the beginning of September the regiment marched into
garrison at Portsmouth.
On the 1st January, 1686, the establishment was fixed at the
numbers and rates of pay as shown in the next page.
Leaving Portsmouth in May, 1686, the regiment proceeded to
Hounslow, and pitched its tents on the heath, where a numerous army
was assembled; and while at this camp the colonelcy was conferred
on EDWARD EARL OF LICHFIELD, by commission dated the 14th of June,
1686.
At the camp on Hounslow-heath, the Earl of Lichfield's regiment
was stationed in the centre of the line of infantry; it was
distinguished by its _white_ colours bearing the red cross of St.
George; the soldiers wore broad-brimmed hats, with the brim turned
up on one side, and ornamented with white ribands; scarlet coats
lined with white; blue breeches, blue stockings, and high shoes
with square toes; and the pikemen, of whom there were twelve in
each company, wore white sashes round their waists.
+------------------------------------------+--------------+
| THE DUKE OF NORFOLK'S REGIMENT OF FOOT. | Pay per Day. |
+------------------------------------------+--------------+
| STAFF. | £. _s._ _d._ |
| | |
| The Colonel, _as Colonel_ | 0 12 0 |
| Lieut.-Colonel, _as Lieut.-Colonel_ | 0 7 0 |
| Major, _as Major_ | 0 5 0 |
| Chaplain | 0 6 8 |
| Chirurgeon 4_s._ and 1 Mate 2_s._ 6_d._ | 0 6 6 |
| Adjutant | 0 4 0 |
| Quarter-Master and Marshal | 0 4 0 |
| +--------------+
| Total Staff | 2 5 2 |
| +--------------+
| | |
| THE COLONEL'S COMPANY. | |
| | |
| The Colonel, as Captain | 0 8 0 |
| Lieutenant | 0 4 0 |
| Ensign | 0 3 0 |
| Two Sergeants, 1_s._ 6_d._ each | 0 3 0 |
| Three Corporals, 1_s._ each | 0 3 0 |
| One Drummer | 0 1 0 |
| Fifty Soldiers, 8_d._ each | 1 13 4 |
| +--------------+
| Total for one Company | 2 15 4 |
| +--------------+
| Nine Companies more at the same rate | 24 18 0 |
| +--------------+
| Total | 29 18 6 |
| Per Annum £10,922 12_s._ 6_d._ | |
+------------------------------------------+--------------+
After passing in review before the King several times, and
receiving the expressions of His Majesty's approbation, the
regiment struck its tents on the 10th of August, when two companies
proceeded to Windsor, three to Tilbury-fort, and the remainder to
Jersey and Guernsey.
[Sidenote: 1687]
A grenadier company was added to the regiment when it pitched its
tents on Hounslow-heath in the summer of 1687, at which period the
following officers were holding commissions, viz.:--
_Captains._
Edward Earl of Lichfield (col).
Thomas Salisbury (lieut.-col).
George Trapp (major).
Dominick Trant.
Charles Macartney.
Sir A. de Mottetts.
Francis Blathwayt.
Henry Wharton.
John Berners.
Thomas Dowcett.
Thomas Lord Jermyn.
_Lieutenants._
Charles Potts.
Charles Houston.
Edward Rupert.
Robert Doughty.
John Cuthbert.
William Fisher.
Alexander Waugh.
Robert Stourson.
James Seppens.
John Broder.
George Raleigh. }
Elric Le Mountay.} Grenadier company.
_Ensigns._
James Carlisle.
Henry Bows.
John Beverly.
Ferdinand Paris.
Valentine Saunders.
Isaac Foxley.
Daniel Mahony.
Richard Waldegrave.
William Timperly.
Miles Bourk.
William Denny, _Chaplain_.
John Ross, _Chirurgeon_.
John Blakes, _Adjutant_.
James Healy, _Quarter-Master_.
[Sidenote: 1688]
The frequent assembling of a numerous army, admired for its
perfect equipment, discipline, and formidable appearance, on
Hounslow-heath, was calculated to impress the English nation with
a sense of the King's power, and to facilitate the overthrow
of the religion and laws of the kingdom, which His Majesty had
determined to accomplish. His Majesty resolved to make a trial of
the disposition of his soldiers, to gain them over to the support
of his measures; thinking, if one regiment could be induced to give
a promise of implicit obedience, its example would be followed by
the other corps. Accordingly in the summer of 1688, soon after the
Earl of Lichfield's regiment had pitched its tents on the heath,
it was formed on parade in presence of His Majesty; a short speech
was made to the officers and soldiers to induce them to give an
unreserved pledge, and the major was directed to call upon all who
would not support the repeal of the test and penal laws, to lay
down their muskets; when the King was surprised and disappointed at
seeing the whole ground their arms, excepting two officers and a
very few soldiers, who were Roman Catholics. After some pause His
Majesty commanded them to take up their arms, telling them that for
the future he would not do them the honour of asking their opinions.
The conduct of the King occasioned the nobility and gentry to
solicit the Prince of Orange to come to England with a Dutch
army, and when the crisis arrived, His Majesty discovered that
his soldiers had as much aversion to papacy and an arbitrary
government, as his other subjects.
Soon after the Prince of Orange had landed, the Earl of Lichfield
was removed to the first foot guards, and was succeeded in the
colonelcy by Robert Lord Hunsdon, whose commission was dated the
30th of November, 1688.
After the flight of King James to France, Lord Hunsdon refused to
take the required oath to the Prince of Orange, and His Highness
conferred the colonelcy of the regiment on HENRY WHARTON, a gallant
officer and a zealous protestant, who raised one of the companies
of the regiment at its formation, and possessed the confidence and
affection of the officers and soldiers: at the same time Captain
Richard Brewer, from the fourteenth regiment of foot, was promoted
to the lieut-colonelcy.
[Sidenote: 1689]
In the beginning of 1689 the regiment was stationed in Oxfordshire:
it afterwards proceeded to Hull, where it was inspected, on the
28th of May, by the commissioners for remodelling the army.
The elevation of the Prince and Princess of Orange to the throne,
under the title of King William and Queen Mary, was resisted in
Ireland; and King James arrived in that country, with a body of
troops, from France. King William sent an army thither, under
Marshal Duke Schomberg, to rescue that part of his dominions
from the power of the Roman Catholics, and the TWELFTH regiment,
commanded by Colonel HENRY WHARTON, was selected to take part in
this service.
Embarking from England in the early part of August, the regiment
arrived in Ireland in the middle of that month; it landed near
Bangor, in the county of Down, without opposition, and encamped on
the beach. The fortress of Carrickfergus was garrisoned by King
James's troops, who were summoned, but refused to surrender; and
the first service performed by the regiment, in the field, was the
siege of that place.
A practicable breach having been made in the works, the regiment
was under arms at six o'clock on the morning of the 27th of August,
to take part in storming the town. The soldiers had arrived at the
trenches, and Colonel Wharton stood with a pike in his hand ready
to give the signal for the attack, when the Irish displayed a white
flag on the walls, and agreed to surrender. Story states, in his
History of the Wars in Ireland, 'Colonel Wharton lay before the
breach with his regiment, and was ready to enter, when the Duke
sent to command his men to forbear, which, with some difficulty,
they were induced to do, for they had a great mind to enter by
force.'
After the surrender of Carrickfergus, the regiment advanced with
the army to Dundalk, and the Duke Schomberg, believing King
James's forces were more than double his own in numbers, formed
an entrenched camp. The situation of this camp was particularly
unfavourable; the ground was low, and the weather proving wet,
the infantry regiments lost many men from disease. The TWELFTH
sustained a very serious loss in non-commissioned officers
and soldiers; and on the morning of the 28th of October their
commanding officer, the gallant Colonel Henry Wharton, died.
This officer is represented by historians as possessing a noble
disposition, refined understanding, and lofty sentiments of honour,
which, added to a tall graceful person, and a gallant bearing,
occasioned him to be admired and beloved by the officers and
soldiers of his regiment. Story states,--'Colonel Wharton was a
brisk, bold man, and had a regiment that would have followed him
anywhere, for the officers and soldiers loved him, and this made
him ready to push on upon all occasions.... He was of a comely
handsome person, gifted with a rare understanding.' Colonel Sir
Thomas Gower died on the preceding day, and the remains of these
two officers were interred, on the 30th of October, in a vault in
Dundalk church, their regiments attending and firing three volleys.
King William promoted the lieutenant-colonel of the regiment,
RICHARD BREWER, to the colonelcy, by commission dated the 1st of
November, 1689.
On the 7th of November the regiment struck its tents and marched
towards Armagh; and it was employed on various services during the
winter.
[Sidenote: 1690]
In February, 1690, the regiment was stationed at Belturbet, with
the Inniskilling horse and dragoons (now sixth), and the Queen
Dowager's foot (now second); and information having been received
that the enemy was assembling a body of troops at _Cavan_, Colonel
Wolseley left Belturbet on the night of the 10th of February,
with three hundred horse and dragoons, and seven hundred foot of
the second and TWELFTH regiments, to surprise the enemy in his
quarters. Encountering difficulties on the march, the day had
dawned before the Colonel came in sight of Cavan, when he was
surprised at discovering four thousand Irish soldiers, commanded
by the Duke of Berwick, formed on a rising ground to oppose him.
The Colonel had only one thousand tired soldiers[6] to attack
four thousand fresh opponents with, but trusting to the valour of
his men, he sent the cavalry forward to commence the action. The
enemy's cavalry drove back the Inniskilling dragoons; but a volley
from the English musketeers, brought down ten Irish horsemen,
and the survivors fell back. Wolseley's infantry formed line and
advanced: arriving within pistol-shot of their opponents, they
opened a sharp fire with good effect, and after a few volleys, drew
their swords to charge, but on the smoke clearing, they discovered
that their opponents had fled. Pursuing the fugitives, they entered
the town, and finding stores of necessaries and provisions, they
halted to possess themselves of the booty; when the Irish rallied
and resumed the fight, but were repulsed by the reserve. After the
action the troops returned to Belturbet.
A numerous body of recruits from England replaced the losses of
the regiment, and in June it brought five hundred musketeers, one
hundred and sixty pikemen, and sixty grenadiers into the field, to
serve under King William III., who commanded the army in Ireland in
person.
The TWELFTH regiment, commanded by Colonel Brewer, had the honour
of taking part at the forcing of the passage of the _Boyne_ on the
1st of July: it formed part of the main body under King William
III., and after fording the river, engaged King James's army, and
contributed to the gaining of a decisive victory. After the loss
of this battle, King James fled to France; but the Irish Roman
Catholics, aided by the French troops, adhered to his interest.
From the field of battle the regiment accompanied King William to
Dublin; it afterwards proceeded to Limerick, but on arriving at
Carrick-on-Suir, it was detached, under Major General Kirke, to
besiege _Waterford_: the garrison of this place surrendered without
waiting for an attack.
King William afterwards besieged _Limerick_; but King James's
soldiers made a more resolute defence than appears to have been
expected, and His Majesty was induced to raise the siege, and send
the troops into quarters.
The TWELFTH regiment was employed in various services during the
winter, and detached parties of the corps had several rencounters
with the bands of armed peasantry called _Rapparees_. Towards the
end of December, the regiment was in motion against the enemy, and
on the 31st of that month it approached the town of _Lanesborough_,
when it encountered some opposition from a body of Irish troops
formed up to oppose its advance. Colonel Brewer led the regiment
forward with great gallantry; some sharp fighting ensued, and the
enemy was driven from the trenches cut across the road, through the
town, and across the river. The TWELFTH were unable to follow their
opponents for want of boats or other means to cross the stream.
[Sidenote: 1691]
From Lanesborough the regiment marched to Mullingar, of which place
its commanding officer, Colonel BREWER, was appointed governor. The
quarters of the regiment were infested with parties of armed Roman
Catholic peasantry, called rapparees, and on the 28th of April,
Colonel Brewer advanced with six hundred men of the TWELFTH and
eighteenth regiments, and twenty dragoons, towards the castle of
_Donore_, beyond which place two thousand rapparees had taken post
and occupied a number of huts. At daybreak the following morning
the soldiers arrived at the quarters of the rapparees, who formed
for battle on the hills; but when the musketeers of the TWELFTH and
eighteenth advanced to commence the action, the enemy fled; the
soldiers pursued some distance, and killed fifty of the fugitives.
Parties of rapparees continued to hover round Mullingar, and on the
2nd of May, they intercepted a serjeant and four soldiers of the
TWELFTH regiment between that place and _Kinnegad_; they put the
serjeant and three of the soldiers to death, and put out the eyes
of the fourth soldier. Three of the perpetrators of this cruelty
were captured; two of them were hanged on the spot, and the third,
to save his life, guided Captain Poynes and a hundred soldiers of
the regiment, to one of the lurking-places of the rapparees, where
the men of the TWELFTH fell suddenly upon a large company of these
marauders, killed forty, dispersed the remainder, and recovered a
quantity of property, which had been taken from the Protestants.
Towards the end of May, one division of the army encamped at
Mullingar, where General De Ginkell arrived and assumed the command.
From Mullingar the army advanced to the fort of _Ballymore_, which
was besieged, and surrendered on the 8th of June.
After repairing the breaches of Ballymore, and putting the place in
a state of defence, the army advanced to _Athlone_, and on the 20th
of June, the regiment was ordered to support the storming party
at the attack of the Westmeath side of the town. Major-General
Mackay commanded the troops employed on this service, and after
making the necessary arrangements for the attack, took his post on
the battery to see the issue, when he observed that the advanced
party had missed its way and halted. He instantly hastened to the
TWELFTH regiment, and taking the first captain he came to by the
hand, pointed the way to the breach. The regiment immediately
rushed forward, stormed the breach in gallant style, and overcoming
the resistance of the Irish, drove them across the bridge to the
Connaught side of the town.
Several batteries were raised against the works on the Connaught
side of the river, and the grenadier company of the TWELFTH was
engaged in forcing the passage of the Shannon, and in capturing
the town by storm, on the 30th of June, which was a most desperate
service, and was performed with distinguished valour and
intrepidity.
The Irish army, commanded by a French officer of talent and
reputation, General St. Ruth, took up a position near _Aghrim_,
where it was attacked on the 12th of July. During the action,
Major-General Mackay ordered the TWELFTH, and three other
regiments, to pass a difficult bog, ford a rivulet, and drive
the Irish from behind the hedges of the nearest enclosures. The
soldiers waded through the bog and rivulet, which was waist deep,
and drove the Irish out of the first enclosures in gallant style.
They afterwards pressed forward with too much ardour, before
the troops designed to support them had arrived, and becoming
insulated, they were attacked in front and on both flanks by very
superior numbers, and driven back to the edge of the bog. The Irish
followed, shouting and plying them with musketry; but a support
arriving under Major-General Talmash, the four regiments faced
about, repulsed their pursuers, and by a spirited effort recovered
their lost ground; the cavalry passed the bog near the castle of
Aghrim, and by a determined charge completed the overthrow of the
Irish army: the French general, St. Ruth, was killed towards the
close of the action by a cannon-ball.
The TWELFTH regiment had one major, one captain, one ensign, and a
number of private soldiers killed, one lieutenant, and seven rank
and file wounded.
The regiment afterwards marched with the army to _Galway_, and
formed part of the force employed in the siege of that place, which
surrendered on the 21st, and was delivered up on the 26th of July.
Major-General Bellasis was appointed governor of Galway, and the
TWELFTH, twenty-second, and twenty-third regiments were selected to
form the garrison of that fortress.
During the remainder of the campaign, the TWELFTH regiment was
stationed at Galway; and in the autumn, the war in Ireland was
terminated by the surrender of Limerick, which delivered that
country from the power of King James the Second.
The conquest of Ireland enabled King William to withdraw several
regiments from thence to strengthen the allied army in the
Netherlands, assembled to oppose the progress of the French
conquests in that country. The TWELFTH regiment marched from
Galway on the 23rd of November, embarked at Kinsale towards the
end of that month, and sailed to Plymouth, where it landed in the
beginning of December.
[Sidenote: 1692]
During the summer of 1692, the regiment was selected to form part
of an expedition against the coast of France, under the command
of the Duke of Leinster: it embarked at Southampton, and the
expedition menaced the French coast at several places, occasioning
much alarm; but the French had assembled so great a number of
regiments to oppose the descent, that a council of war decided
against landing. The troops afterwards sailed to Ostend, where
they landed, and being joined by a detachment from the confederate
army under King William III., they took possession of the towns
of Furnes and Dixmude, which they fortified, to be occupied as
frontier posts during the winter. After these places were put in a
state of defence, the regiment returned to England.
[Sidenote: 1693]
During the year 1693, the regiment remained in Great Britain; but
the loss of the battle of Landen, by King William, rendered it
necessary for the confederate army in Flanders to be augmented, and
Colonel Brewer's was one of the regiments selected to proceed on
service.
[Sidenote: 1694]
The regiment embarked for Flanders in the spring of 1694; it was
stationed at Malines a short time, and afterwards formed part of
the escort which accompanied the train of artillery to the army at
Tirlemont, where it arrived on the 6th of June; on the 10th the
regiment was reviewed by the King, who expressed his approbation
of its appearance and discipline. It was formed in brigade with a
battalion of the Royal, the third, fourth, seventh, and nineteenth
regiments, under Brigadier-General Erle, and was engaged in
the toilsome operations of the campaign, which was passed in
manœuvring, without a general engagement. The regiment formed part
of the covering army during the siege of Huy, and after the capture
of this fortress it was stationed at Bruges.
[Sidenote: 1695]
The progress of the French conquests had been arrested, and in
1694 the current of success flowed in favour of the Confederates.
In 1695, King William resolved to undertake the siege of Namur. As
a preparative measure, the TWELFTH, and several other regiments,
marched to Dixmude, in May; in June an attack was made on the fort
of _Kenoque_,--a strong post situate at the junction of the Loo and
Dixmude canals, to draw the French forces to that part of their
line of fortifications. The TWELFTH were engaged in this attack;
and they were formed in brigade with the fourteenth, fifteenth,
and seventeenth regiments, under Colonel Leslie; they had several
men killed and wounded. The French troops having taken post
behind their lines, leaving _Namur_ exposed, the King seized the
favourable moment and invested the town. The attack on fort Kenoque
was then discontinued, and the TWELFTH marched into garrison at
_Dixmude_, where three British and five Dutch regiments of foot,
and the Queen's (now third) dragoons, were stationed under a Dutch
officer,--_Major-General Ellemberg_.
A powerful French army, commanded by Marshal Villeroy, approached
the town of Dixmude, and on the 15th of July the place was invested
by a strong division under General de Montal. The trenches were
opened on the same night, and on the following day a battery of
eight guns and three mortars commenced a heavy fire. The works
beginning to crumble under fire, Major-General Ellemberg called
a council of war of the commanding officers of regiments, and
suggested the necessity of surrendering, using, at the same time,
various arguments to induce the other officers to agree to his
proposal. Colonel Brewer, of the TWELFTH foot, remonstrated against
this measure, and recommended a resolute defence of the town to
the last extremity; but a majority in the council of war voted for
surrendering. The garrison expected to march out with the honors of
war; but the French King sent orders to make the whole prisoners
of war. The soldiers in garrison were anxious to be permitted to
defend the town; many of them broke their arms sooner than deliver
them up to the French, and several stands of regimental colours
were destroyed by the men, that they might not become trophies in
the hands of the enemy. The regiments in garrison were all made
prisoners of war, and were marched into the territory subject to
France, Louis XIV. refusing to deliver them up on the conditions of
the cartel previously agreed upon.
In the mean time King William was carrying on the siege of Namur,
and when the citadel was surrendered, he permitted the garrison to
march out with the honors of war, but ordered Marshal Boufflers to
be arrested, and detained, until the regiments made prisoners by
the French at Dixmude, and detained contrary to the cartel, were
delivered up.
This produced the desired effect--the TWELFTH, and other corps in
prison, were liberated, and rejoined the army, and the necessary
arms, equipments, and clothing, were procured as speedily as
possible, to enable the regiment to resume its duties; it was
afterwards placed in garrison at Malines.
A general court-martial assembled for the trial of the officers
who delivered up Dixmude and its garrison to the enemy;
_Major-General Ellemberg_ was sentenced to be _beheaded_, and
executed at Ghent on the 20th of November; Colonels Graham, Leslie,
and the Dutch Colonel Aüer were cashiered; Colonel Brewer of the
TWELFTH foot, and the other commanding officers, who remonstrated
against the surrender of the town, were acquitted.
[Sidenote: 1696]
The French monarch made preparations for the invasion of England in
favour of King James, and in the spring of 1696, several regiments
were withdrawn from Flanders, when the TWELFTH marched from Malines
to Ostend and Bruges; but the enemy did not venture to put to sea,
and the regiment was not required to embark for England.
On the 28th of May, the regiment joined the troops encamped between
Ghent and Bruges; it was formed in brigade with the first battalion
of the royals, the fifteenth, and Collingwood's (afterwards
disbanded) regiments, under Brigadier-General the Earl of Orkney,
and served the campaign of this year with the army of Flanders,
under the Prince of Vaudemont. The troops of that army were
encamped behind the Bruges canal, nearly all the summer, to cover
Ghent, Bruges, and the maritime towns of Flanders: in the autumn
the regiment was ordered to occupy quarters in the town of Bruges.
[Sidenote: 1697]
In the spring of 1697, the English regiments were ordered to
proceed to Brabant, to join the army commanded by King William in
person; the TWELFTH foot were, however, detained in Flanders until
the Brandenburg troops arrived, when they marched to Brabant, and
served under the King during the remainder of the campaign. They
were formed in brigade with a battalion of the first royals, and
the fifth, Collier's and Lauder's (afterwards disbanded) regiments,
commanded by the Earl of Orkney.
The regiment was encamped before Brussels, when the war was
terminated by the treaty of Ryswick, and King William saw his
efforts, to prevent the aggrandizement of France by conquest,
attended with complete success. During the winter the regiment
returned to England.
[Sidenote: 1698]
[Sidenote: 1699]
Considerable reductions were made in the establishment of the
army in 1698 and 1699, and the TWELFTH were ordered to proceed to
Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1700]
[Sidenote: 1701]
While the regiment was stationed in Ireland, the death of Charles
II., King of Spain, occurred, and he was succeeded by Philip,
Duke of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV., in violation of existing
treaties, which rekindled the war in Europe.
[Sidenote: 1702]
Various circumstances occurred to induce Great Britain to take part
in the contest, and Queen Anne declared war against France and
Spain, in May, 1702.
The establishment of the TWELFTH regiment was augmented, and it
was held in readiness to proceed on foreign service; but it was
detained in Ireland several months, during which period Colonel
Brewer was succeeded in the colonelcy by Lieut.-Colonel Livesay, by
commission, dated the 28th of September 1702.
As soon as hostilities were commenced, Vice-Admiral Benbow,
commanding the British naval force in the West Indies, began
an active warfare against the commerce of the enemy, with some
success. Soon afterwards the TWELFTH regiment was ordered to form
part of a powerful armament, designed to be sent to the West
Indies, under Charles Earl of Peterborough who was promoted to the
local rank of General, and a Dutch naval and land force arrived at
Spithead, to accompany the British fleet; but this joint expedition
was laid aside.
[Sidenote: 1703]
The TWELFTH regiment embarked for the West Indies during the
winter. In the early part of March, 1703, an unsuccessful attack
was made on the island of _Guadaloupe_, by the troops under Colonel
Codrington; two regiments landed and gained some advantages, but
the expedition was not of sufficient strength to capture the island.
[Sidenote: 1704]
Additional regiments were afterwards sent to the West Indies:[7]
but nothing of importance took place, and the TWELFTH were sent to
the island of Jamaica, where they were stationed during the year
1704.
[Sidenote: 1705]
The regiment sustained very serious losses from the effects of the
climate, and, in 1705, it transferred the non-commissioned officers
and soldiers fit for service, to the twenty-second foot, and the
officers and a few of the serjeants returned to England to recruit.
[Sidenote: 1706]
[Sidenote: 1707]
[Sidenote: 1708]
During the years 1706 and 1707, the regiment was employed in
recruiting, training, and disciplining its ranks, and having
attained a state of efficiency, it was reported fit for service,
and in the spring of 1708, it was held in readiness to serve on
board the fleet as marines.
During the summer, the regiment was encamped in the Isle of Wight,
where it was reviewed, on the 19th of July, by Major-General
Erle, and afterwards embarked on an expedition against the coast
of France, the fleet being under the orders of Admiral Sir
George Byng, and the land forces under Major-General Erle.[8] The
fleet sailed from Spithead on the 27th of July, and menaced the
coast of Picardy with a descent, creating considerable alarm and
consternation; a landing was afterwards effected a few miles from
Boulogne, but nothing of importance was accomplished.
In the mean time, the allied army, commanded by the great Duke
of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy, was carrying on the
siege of the celebrated city of Lisle, the capital of French
Flanders, which was defended by fifteen thousand men, under Marshal
Boufflers. The French and Spaniards, thinking to prevent the allied
army receiving supplies from the coast, detached a body of troops,
under General Count de la Motte, towards Ostend; and the troops
employed in alarming the French coast, were suddenly ordered to
proceed to that port, where they arrived on the 21st of September.
The TWELFTH, and other regiments of the expedition, having landed
at Ostend, the French general retired; first cutting the dykes, to
lay the country between Ostend and Nieuport under water, and to
prevent the troops, under Major-General Erle, communicating with
the grand army under the Duke of Marlborough. A strong detachment
from the TWELFTH, and two other regiments, seized on Leffinghen,
constructed some works, and established a post at that village.
At this period, the army before Lisle was deficient in ammunition
for carrying on the siege, and the Duke of Marlborough, having
heard of the arrival of the troops at Ostend, and of their having
established a post at Leffinghen, sent seven hundred waggons
thither, under a strong guard, for supplies. The soldiers of the
TWELFTH, and other corps at Ostend, were employed in draining the
inundations; they built a bridge over the canal of Leffinghen,
opened a communication with the grand army, and assisted in loading
the seven hundred waggons with ammunition and other necessaries.
The waggons left Ostend on the 27th of September; the troops
employed to guard the convoy, under Major-General Webb, were
attacked on the following day in the wood of Wynendale, by
twenty-two thousand French and Spaniards, under Count de la
Motte, who was repulsed, and the convoy arrived in safety at the
head-quarters of the army. Major-General Webb received the thanks
of Parliament for his conduct on this occasion.
The Duke of Vendôme was so chagrined at this success, that he
advanced with a numerous army to Oudenburg, posted his men along
the canal between Plassendael and Nieuport, and caused the dykes
to be cut in several places, in order to let in the sea, and lay
a great extent of country under water. The TWELFTH, and other
corps under Major-General Erle, were encamped on the high grounds
of Raversein, and watched the enemy's movements; at length, the
Duke of Marlborough put the covering army in motion, to attack the
enemy, when the Duke of Vendôme made a precipitate retreat. The
TWELFTH were afterwards employed in conveying another supply of
ammunition and other necessaries, for the besieging army, across
the inundations in boats, which enabled the generals of the allied
army to continue the siege of Lisle, and insured the reduction of
that fortress. The Duke of Vendôme sent a body of troops to besiege
Leffinghen, which was captured after a short resistance; the enemy
also menaced the camp at Raversein, when the TWELFTH, and other
regiments under Major-General Erle, retired into the outworks
of Ostend. The supplies furnished to the army, however, proved
sufficient, and the citadel of Lisle surrendered on the 9th of
December.
[Sidenote: 1709]
The service, for which the regiment was sent to Flanders having
been accomplished, it returned to England in the early part of
1709, and was stationed in garrison at Portsmouth.
[Sidenote: 1710]
On the 4th of July, 1710, the regiments of Livesay (TWELFTH), and
of Montandre, Lord Mark Kerr, and Windsor (afterwards disbanded),
were reviewed at Portsmouth by Lieut.-General Erle.
[Sidenote: 1711]
The regiment was detained on home service in 1711.
[Sidenote: 1712]
Colonel Livesay was succeeded in the colonelcy of the regiment by
Lieut.-Col. Richard Phillips, whose commission was dated the 16th
of March, 1712.
Being in an efficient state, the regiment was embarked for Spain,
to reinforce the allied army in that country. In the summer of
1712, preliminary articles for a treaty of peace were agreed
upon, which was followed by a cessation of hostilities, and the
TWELFTH regiment proceeded to the island of Minorca, which had been
captured by a body of troops under Major-General Stanhope in 1708.
[Sidenote: 1713]
Minorca was ceded to Great Britain by the treaty of Utrecht in
1713, and the TWELFTH regiment was one of the corps selected to
form part of the garrison of that island.
[Sidenote: 1717]
Colonel Phillips was appointed to the command of the fortieth foot,
on the formation of that regiment from non-regimented companies
in America, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the TWELFTH by
Colonel Thomas Stanwix, from the thirtieth foot, whose commission
was dated the 25th of August, 1717.
[Sidenote: 1719]
Having been relieved from duty at Minorca, in 1719, the regiment
returned to England, where it arrived in October of that year.
[Sidenote: 1722]
In the summer of 1722, the regiment was encamped on Salisbury
Plain, and it was reviewed on the 30th of August by King George I.,
and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, afterwards King George
II.
[Sidenote: 1725]
On the 14th of March, 1725, Brigadier-General Thomas Stanwix died,
and King George I. conferred the colonelcy of the regiment on
Major-General Thomas Whetham, from the twenty-seventh foot.
[Sidenote: 1739]
The regiment was employed on home service for several years; and on
the breaking out of the war with Spain, in 1739, its establishment
was augmented to nine hundred officers and soldiers.
[Sidenote: 1740]
In the summer of 1740, the regiment pitched its tents near Newbury,
where an encampment was formed of two regiments of horse, three
of dragoons, and four of infantry, under Lieut.-General Wade. It
afterwards served on board the fleet as marines.
In the autumn of this year, Charles VI., Emperor of Germany, died,
and the succession of his daughter Maria Theresa, as Queen of
Hungary and Bohemia, was disputed by the Elector of Bavaria, who
was aided by a French army.
[Sidenote: 1741]
King George II. resolved to support the house of Austria, and the
TWELFTH was one of the regiments selected to proceed on foreign
service. It was encamped, in the summer of 1741, on Lexden Heath,
and was held in readiness to embark; in the autumn it went into
cantonments.
General Whetham died on the 28th of April; and the colonelcy
remained vacant until August, when His Majesty conferred that
appointment on the lieut.-colonel of the regiment, Scipio Duroure,
who had performed the duties of commanding officer with reputation
during the preceding seven years.
[Sidenote: 1742]
During the summer of 1742, King George II. sent an army to Flanders
under Field-Marshal the Earl of Stair, to support the house of
Austria, and the TWELFTH foot embarked on this service under
Colonel Duroure.
[Sidenote: 1743]
The regiment passed several months in Flanders, and in February
1743 it commenced its march for Germany. It was encamped a short
period near the forest d'Armstadt, and afterwards at Aschaffenburg,
where the King and His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland joined
the army.
On the 27th of June, as the forces commanded by His Majesty were
marching along the bank of the river Maine, the French under
Marshal Noailles crossed the stream and took post near _Dettingen_,
to intercept the march. The allied army formed for battle and
a severe engagement took place, in which the TWELFTH had an
opportunity of distinguishing themselves under the eye of their
Sovereign. On one occasion they repulsed a charge of the French
cavalry, and afterwards engaged the enemy's infantry with signal
intrepidity and determination. The opposing army was forced to give
way before the steady valour of the infantry of the allied army,
and the charges of the British cavalry completed the overthrow
of the French host, which was driven across the river Maine with
severe loss.
The TWELFTH regiment had Captain Phillips, Lieutenant Monro, and
twenty-seven rank and file killed; Captain Campbell, Lieutenant
Williams, Ensign Townshend, three serjeants, two drummers, and
sixty rank and file wounded, on this occasion.
After passing the night on the field of battle, the regiment
marched to Hanau; it was encamped several weeks on the banks of
the Kinzig, and in August marched towards the Rhine. It crossed
that river above Mentz, and was employed in various services until
October, when the army marched in divisions back to Flanders. The
TWELFTH formed part of the fifth division, under Major-General the
Earl of Rothes, and arrived on the 22nd of November, at Brussels,
from whence they proceeded to Ostend for winter quarters.
[Sidenote: 1744]
The TWELFTH regiment served the campaign of 1744 under
Field-Marshal Wade: it was encamped some time on the banks of
the Scheldt, and took part in several operations, but no general
engagement occurred: in the autumn it was again stationed in
Flanders.
[Sidenote: 1745]
In the spring of 1745, a very powerful French army appeared in the
Austrian provinces of the Netherlands, and commenced the siege of
Tournay. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland assumed the
command of the allied army, and advanced to the relief of the
besieged fortress; and the TWELFTH regiment of foot was withdrawn
from garrison to take part in the enterprise. The French army took
up a position at the village of _Fontenoy_; and the allies, though
much inferior to the enemy in numbers, resolved to hazard a general
engagement.
At two o'clock on the morning of the 11th of May, the allied
army advanced to attack the formidable position occupied by the
enemy, and the TWELFTH regiment, commanded by Colonel Duroure,
was detached with several other corps, under Brigadier-General
Ingoldsby, to attack a large fort, mounted with cannon, in the wood
of Barri. Against this post the regiment advanced, but the fort
was found too formidable to be attacked without artillery, and
some delay occurred. Brigadier-General Ingoldsby did not clearly
understand his orders, and the regiment was detained a long time
in a state of inactivity exposed to a heavy cannonade; during
which time the British infantry had forced the enemy's centre,
but were obliged to retire in consequence of the Dutch having
failed on Fontenoy, and Brigadier-General Ingoldsby having lost
the opportunity of attacking the batteries in the wood of Barri.
A second attack was, however, determined on, in the hope that
the Dutch would make a more determined effort, and the TWELFTH
were brought into action; Brigadier-General Ingoldsby was wounded
at the head of the regiment, and removed to the rear. Impatient
of the state of inactivity in which they had been detained, the
soldiers of the TWELFTH rushed into action with distinguished
ardour, and were conspicuous for their gallant bearing throughout
the remainder of the contest. They were exposed to a heavy fire,
and had to contend against very superior numbers. Their commanding
officer, Colonel Duroure, fell mortally wounded; Lieut.-Colonel
Whitmore was killed; Major Cosseley was wounded, and the command
devolved on Captain Rainsford, who was also wounded: but the
regiment preserved its firm array, and when more than half the
non-commissioned officers and soldiers had fallen, the survivors
continued the fight, advancing over the killed and wounded of both
armies. The Dutch, however, failed a second time; the British who
had penetrated the enemy's line became insulated, and constantly
exposed to the attack of fresh troops, and a retreat was ordered;
the army withdrawing from the field of battle to Aeth.
The conduct of the TWELFTH regiment was commended in the Duke of
Cumberland's public despatch; its loss was greater than any other
corps in the army, and amounted to _three hundred and twenty-one_
officers and soldiers: viz., Lieut.-Colonel Whitmore, Captain
Campbell, Lieutenants Bockland and Lane, Ensigns Cannon and
Clifton, five serjeants, and one hundred and forty-eight rank and
file killed; Colonel Duroure, Major Cosseley, Captains Rainsford
and Robinson, Lieutenants Murray, Townshend, Millington, and
Delgaire, Ensigns Dagers and Pearce, seven serjeants, and one
hundred and forty-two private soldiers wounded; Captain de Cosne,
Captain-Lieut. Goulston, and Lieut. Salt, missing.
Colonel Duroure died of his wounds, and was succeeded by
Brigadier-General Henry Skelton, from the thirty-second regiment of
foot. Major Cosseley recovered of his wounds, and was promoted to
the lieut.-colonelcy, and Captain Rainsford was appointed Major.
The regiment was encamped with the army on the plain of Lessines,
and afterwards near Brussels; and the French, by their superior
numbers, were enabled to capture several fortified towns.
In the meantime a rebellion had broken out in Scotland, headed
by Charles Edward, eldest son of the Pretender. This adventurer,
being guided by desperate and designing men,--urged on by the wily
politics of France,--personally sanguine in his disposition, and
disposed to listen to every representation that flattered his
views, embarked on his expedition in a style little adequate to the
extent of his designs, which were to dethrone the reigning monarch,
and to overturn the constitution of a brave and free people.
Arriving in Scotland, he was joined by several of the Highland
clans, and the King's troops being in Flanders, success attended
his efforts for a short period.
The TWELFTH regiment was one of the corps ordered to return to
England on this occasion: it arrived at Gravesend on the 4th of
November, afterwards formed part of the army assembled under the
Duke of Cumberland, when the clans penetrated England as far as
Derby.
Being little accustomed to hear the sound of war at their own
gates, the British were at first alarmed at the novelty; but soon
recovering, they evinced loyalty and union in sustaining the fixed
rights of their sovereign, and in defending their own liberties.
Addresses, backed by associations, were daily made to the King; the
army arrived from Flanders, and the Pretender made a precipitate
retreat back to Scotland.
The TWELFTH regiment pursued the Highlanders as far as _Carlisle_,
and was before that town when the rebel garrison surrendered.
[Sidenote: 1746]
In the early part of 1746 the regiment was withdrawn from the north
of England; but after the loss of the battle of Falkirk by the
troops under Lieut.-General Hawley, it was ordered to proceed to
Scotland. Various circumstances occurred to prevent its proceeding
thither immediately; but it embarked from Plymouth towards the end
of March, and sailed for Scotland in the early part of April.
Before the regiment joined the army under the Duke of Cumberland,
the battle of Culloden had decided the fate of the young Pretender,
who was transformed, by the events of that day, from an imaginary
monarch to an humble fugitive, and after concealing himself some
time in the Highlands and Hebrides, he escaped to the continent.
The regiment was stationed several months at Perth.
[Sidenote: 1747]
During the summer of 1747 the TWELFTH were encamped in a rugged
valley, surrounded by gloomy precipices, near Fort Augustus, in the
Highlands of Scotland; in the autumn the regiment was withdrawn
from North Britain and stationed in England.
[Sidenote: 1748]
In the meantime, the war on the Continent had been continued, and
in the beginning of the year 1748, the regiment embarked at Shields
for Holland, to join the allied army in that country.
In the spring, the regiment took the field, and was engaged in
several services: hostilities were afterwards terminated by a
treaty of peace concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle, and during the winter
the TWELFTH foot returned to England.
[Sidenote: 1749]
Immediately after its arrival from Holland, the regiment embarked
for the island of Minorca, where it was stationed three years.
[Sidenote: 1751]
On the 1st of July, 1751, a royal warrant was issued regulating
the standards, colours, and clothing of the several regiments. At
this period the costume of the TWELFTH foot was--cocked hats, bound
with white lace, _scarlet_ coats faced and lined with _yellow_, and
ornamented with white lace; scarlet waistcoats and breeches, and
white gaiters. The first, or Kings colour, was the great union; the
second, or regimental colour, was of yellow silk, in the centre
XII. in gold characters, within a wreath of roses and thistles
on the same stalk, and the union in the upper canton.
[Illustration: MONTIS INSIGNIA CALPE.
TWELFTH
REGIMENT OF FOOT.]
[Sidenote: 1752]
Towards the end of the year 1751 the TWELFTH were relieved from
duty at Minorca by the fifty-first regiment, and returned to
England, where they arrived in the beginning of 1752.
[Sidenote: 1755]
[Sidenote: 1756]
[Sidenote: 1757]
The progress of colonization in North America involved Great
Britain in disputes with the French government respecting the
country near the river Ohio, which occasioned the commencement of
the Seven Years' War, in 1756. The establishment of the TWELFTH
regiment was augmented on this occasion; and in 1757 it consisted
of two battalions.
General Skelton died on the 9th of April, 1757, and King George II.
conferred the colonelcy of the TWELFTH foot on Major-General Robert
Napier, from the fifty-first regiment.
[Sidenote: 1758]
In 1758 the second battalion of the TWELFTH foot was constituted
the sixty-fifth regiment, under the command of Colonel Armiger,
from captain and lieut.-colonel of the first foot guards.[9]
Meanwhile the war, which commenced in America, had extended to
Hanover, and the electorate was overrun by the armies of France. A
body of Hanoverian, Hessian, and Brunswick troops, commanded by
Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, opposed the forces of the enemy,
and in the summer of 1758, the TWELFTH regiment, after encamping a
short time in the Isle of Wight, was ordered to proceed to Germany
to join the allied army. The regiment arrived at Embden on the 1st
of August, landed a few miles above the town on the 3rd, and on the
5th commenced its march to join the army, which it accomplished in
twelve days, and was reviewed on the 20th of that month by Prince
Ferdinand.
During the remainder of the campaign, the regiment was actively
employed, and performed many fatiguing services. Towards the end of
November it marched into quarters in Munster, a city situate in a
fruitful and agreeable country on the river Aa.
[Sidenote: 1759]
Operations were commenced early in the spring of 1759, and the
allies gained some advantage; but when the French forces were
assembled, they possessed so great a superiority in numbers, that
Prince Ferdinand was obliged to fall back as the enemy advanced.
A series of retrograde movements brought the allied army to the
vicinity of _Minden_, situate on the bank of the river Weser, in
Westphalia.
The French army, commanded by Marshal de Contades, took possession
of Minden, and occupied a strong position near that city.
Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick manœuvred: he detached one body of
troops under his nephew, the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, and
appeared to leave another exposed to the attack of the whole of
the opposing army. The destruction of this corps was resolved upon
by the French commander, and he put his army in motion for that
purpose, during the night between the 31st of July and the 1st
of August. While the French were on the march, Prince Ferdinand
advanced with the allied army, and early on the morning of the 1st
of August, as the leading column of the enemy attained the summit
of an eminence, it was surprised at discovering, instead of a few
weak corps, the allied army formed in order of battle. Thus the
French marshal suddenly found himself committed, and under the
necessity of fighting upon unfavourable ground. After some delay he
formed line, and the battle commenced.
The TWELFTH, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel William Robinson, with
the twenty-third and thirty-seventh British regiments, followed by
the twentieth, twenty-fifth, and fifty-first, under Major-General
Waldegrave and Major-General Kingsley, flanked by two battalions of
Hanoverian foot guards, and the Hanoverian regiment of Hardenberg,
and supported by three regiments of Hanoverians and a battalion of
Hessian foot guards, advanced to attack the left wing of the French
army, where Marshal de Contades had posted the _élite_ of his
cavalry, the carabineers and gendarmes. The TWELFTH, twenty-third,
and thirty-seventh, led the attack with signal intrepidity: as
they moved forward in firm array, the enemy's artillery opened a
tremendous fire, which rent chasms in the ranks, and the French
carabineers advanced to charge them; but a rolling volley from the
three British regiments smote the hostile squadrons, when many men
fell, and the survivors reined up their horses, wheeled about,
and galloped to the rear; their artillery recommencing its fire
as the repulsed squadrons withdrew. The Hanoverian brigade came
up on the left of the TWELFTH, twenty-third, and thirty-seventh,
and the other three British regiments on the right. Soon, another
line of French cavaliers, gay in splendid uniforms, and formidable
in numbers, came forward, the soldiers shouting and waving their
swords; but they were struck in mid-onset by a tempest of bullets
from the British regiments, broken, and driven back with severe
loss. Still pressing forward with a conquering violence, the three
brigades became exposed to the fire of the enemy's infantry on
their flanks; but nothing could stop them: encouraged by success,
and confident in their own prowess, they followed up their
advantage, routed the whole of the French cavalry, and drove it
from the field.[10] Two brigades of French infantry endeavoured
to stem the torrent of battle; but they were quickly broken and
dispersed.[11] A body of Saxon troops made a show of coming down
upon the conquering British regiments, but they were soon put to
flight, and the triumphant English continued their splendid career,
overpowering all opposition.
The action commenced between six and seven o'clock in the morning;
about nine the enemy began to give way; a general confusion
followed; and at ten o'clock the whole French army fled in
disorder, with the loss of forty-three pieces of cannon, ten stand
of colours, and seven standards.
The TWELFTH regiment had Lieutenants William Falkingham, Henry
Probyn, and George Townsend, four serjeants, one drummer, and
seventy-seven rank and file killed; Lieut.-Colonel William
Robinson, Captains Mathias Murray, William Cloudesley, and Peter
Campbell, Captain-Lieutenant Peter Dunbar; Lieutenants Thomas
Fletcher, William Barlow, Thomas Lawless, Edward Freeman, John
Campbell, and George Rose; Ensigns John Forbes, David Parkill, and
John Kay, eleven serjeants, four drummers, and one hundred and
seventy-five rank and file wounded; Captains Peter Chalbert, and
Robert Ackland, and eleven rank and file missing.
The TWELFTH regiment was thanked in orders, in common with
the other British regiments, on the following day; and its
distinguished conduct on this occasion was afterwards honoured with
the King's authority to bear the word "_Minden_" on its colours and
appointments in commemoration of its gallantry.[12]
Minden was taken possession of on the following day, and the
French army was forced to make a precipitate retreat to a distance
of about two hundred miles. The allies followed the retiring
enemy with great energy, ascending precipices, passing morasses,
overcoming numerous difficulties, and pressing upon and attacking
the retreating army, with so much resolution, that several French
corps were nearly annihilated, and many prisoners, with a great
quantity of baggage, were captured. The TWELFTH foot shared in
the hazards, toils and conflicts of this brilliant success, and
when the weather became too severe for the troops to remain in
the field, the regiment went into cantonments in the bishopric of
Osnaburg in Westphalia.
[Sidenote: 1760]
The regiment left its quarters on the 5th of May, 1760, to take the
field, and on the 12th of that month it arrived in the vicinity
of Paderborn; it was joined by a numerous body of recruits from
England, to replace the losses of the preceding campaign.
A hundred thousand French troops took the field under the Duke of
Broglio, with a separate corps under the Count de St. Germain, and
so far outnumbered the allied army, that the latter was obliged to
act on the defensive. The TWELFTH took part in numerous operations.
Towards the end of May they were encamped on the heights near
Fritzlar; in July they proceeded to the vicinity of Saxenhausen,
from whence they retreated towards Cassel, and encamped near Kalle.
Upwards of thirty thousand French troops crossed the river Dymel,
and took post near _Warbourg_, to cut off the communication of the
allies with Westphalia, when Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick quitted
the camp at Kalle, and crossed the river to attack this portion of
the French army. The battle commenced on the morning of the 31st of
July, at which time the TWELFTH, and other British infantry corps,
were several miles from the scene of conflict. The soldiers hurried
forward to share in the action with extraordinary zeal: it was a
hot summer's day; they had a rugged country to traverse, morasses
to pass, and numerous difficulties to overcome, and they exerted
themselves with so much energy, that several men dropped on the
road;[13] but before they arrived at Warbourg, the French troops
had retreated across the river.
During the remainder of the campaign, the regiment was employed
upon the Dymel; and the allied army, by secret and expeditious
movements, by daring and rapid advances, and by sudden and
unexpected attacks, kept the enemy in constant alarm. In the
winter, the regiment went into quarters in the bishopric of
Paderborn.
[Sidenote: 1761]
The enemy having amassed immense magazines in the country of Hesse,
and on the Lower Rhine, the allied army made a sudden advance into
the enemy's cantonments, in February, 1761, captured several strong
towns, and seized on numerous stores of provision. The TWELFTH
shared in this enterprise, advancing through a deep snow, and
taking part in several important captures: when this service was
performed, they retired to their former quarters.
In June, 1761, the regiment again took the field, and was employed
in several operations; it was formed in brigade with the fifth,
twenty-fourth, and thirty-seventh regiments, under the command
of Brigadier-General Sandford, and was posted in the Marquis of
Granby's division. After several harassing marches, the regiment
was stationed in front of the village of _Kirch Denkern_, and
near to Vellinghausen, in the bishopric of Paderborn. The French,
commanded by Marshals Soubise and the Duke of Broglio, attacked
this post on the 15th of July; but the ground was maintained with
firmness and resolution by the British infantry, and the enemy
was repulsed with loss. The fire of the skirmishers was continued
during the night, and on the following day the attack was repeated
with fresh troops, when the TWELFTH evinced great gallantry in the
defence of the position. After five hours' sharp fighting, some
disorder appeared in the enemy's ranks, when the brigade charged
and routed the opposing battalions with great slaughter. The loss
of the regiment, on this occasion, was limited to three private
soldiers killed, and nine wounded.
The TWELFTH were stationed near Kirch Denkern until the 27th of
July: they were subsequently employed in manœuvring and skirmishing
in various parts of the bishopric of Paderborn and on the river
Weser, and in September they were employed in the country of
Hesse. They were engaged in several skirmishes in the electorate
of Hanover in the early part of November; and were subsequently
quartered for several months in the bishopric of Osnaburg.
[Sidenote: 1762]
The regiment left its cantonments in Osnaburg in the spring of
1762, and was formed in brigade with the same regiments as in
the preceding year. It was engaged, on the 24th of June, in the
surprise of the French army encamped at _Groebenstein_: on the
morning of that day it was in motion at an early hour, crossed the
river Dymel at Liebenau at four o'clock, and advancing several
miles through a woody country, arrived in front of the enemy's
camp. The French were surprised and confounded; they abandoned
their camp, leaving their tents standing, and retreated towards
Cassel; one division, under General Stainville, throwing itself
into the woods of _Wilhelmsthal_, to cover the movement. This
division was attacked, and nearly annihilated; and after the loss
of many men killed and wounded, the remainder surrendered to the
fifth foot, which was the leading regiment of the brigade to which
the TWELFTH belonged.
After the action, the regiment encamped on the heights of
Wilhelmsthal; it was subsequently employed in various operations;
and on the 23rd of July its grenadier company took part in driving
the Saxons, under Prince Xavier, from their post at _Lutterberg_,
and in the capture of thirteen pieces of cannon.
On the 24th of July a hundred men of the TWELFTH foot were engaged
in dislodging a detachment of the enemy from the heights of
_Homburg_. The regiment was afterwards employed in operations on
the rivers Ohm and Lahn, and in covering the siege of _Cassel_,
which fortress surrendered in the beginning of November.
A suspension of hostilities took place soon after the surrender
of Cassel, which was followed by a treaty of peace, concluded
at Fontainbleau: the regiment was quartered in the bishopric of
Munster about ten weeks.
[Sidenote: 1763]
In the beginning of 1763, the thanks of Parliament were
communicated to the army for its conduct during the war. In
February, the regiment marched through Holland to Williamstadt,
where it embarked for England: its effective strength, according to
the embarkation return, was twenty-seven officers, six hundred and
eighty-nine non-commissioned officers and soldiers.
[Sidenote: 1764]
[Sidenote: 1765]
[Sidenote: 1766]
On arriving in England, from Germany, the TWELFTH were ordered to
proceed to Scotland, where they were stationed during the following
three years.
Lieut.-General Napier died in November, 1766, when King George III.
conferred the command of the regiment on Colonel Henry Clinton,
from captain and lieut.-colonel in the first foot guards.
[Sidenote: 1767]
[Sidenote: 1769]
In 1767, the TWELFTH were stationed in England; and in 1769, they
proceeded to Gibraltar, to relieve the twentieth regiment on
garrison duty at that fortress.
[Sidenote: 1775]
[Sidenote: 1778]
[Sidenote: 1779]
The American war commenced in 1775, and the colonel of the
regiment, Lieut.-General Sir Henry Clinton, distinguished himself
in that country: in December, 1778, he was appointed colonel of the
eighty-fourth regiment, or Royal Highland emigrants, then first
embodied for service in North America, and afterwards disbanded.
The Colonelcy of the TWELFTH foot remained vacant until the 21st
of April, 1779, when it was conferred on Colonel William Picton,
from the seventy-fifth regiment; a newly-raised corps, which was
disbanded at the peace in 1782-3.
The TWELFTH regiment remained at _Gibraltar_. The possession of
this fortress by the English, with a British garrison on the top
of the rocky promontory overlooking the provinces of Spain, had
been regarded by the Spaniards with great jealousy: every attempt
to retake it had failed. Great Britain attached much importance
to the possession of it; but the contest between the revolted
provinces in North America and England appeared to present to the
Spanish monarch a favourable opportunity for regaining possession
of this valuable fortress. When the French monarch acknowledged
the independence of the United States, and commenced hostilities
against Britain, the time appeared particularly favourable for
another effort to recapture Gibraltar, and in the summer of 1779,
that fortress was beset, by sea and land, by the Spanish fleets and
armies.
The garrison consisted of the TWELFTH, thirty-ninth, fifty-sixth,
fifty-eighth, and (late) seventy-second British, with the
Hanoverian regiments of Hardenberg, Reden, and De la Motte, and
a proportion of artillery and engineers. The TWELFTH mustered
twenty-nine officers, twenty-nine serjeants, twenty-two drummers,
and five hundred and nineteen rank and file, under the command of
Lieut.-Colonel Trigge: the garrison mustered five thousand three
hundred and eighty-two men, under the orders of General Eliott,
afterwards Lord Heathfield.[14]
Being blockaded by sea and besieged by land, the troops at
Gibraltar became cut off from communication with all countries,
and the garrison was like a little world within itself. The
arrangements for the defence were devised with judgment, and
executed with skill. The soldiers conformed to the strict rules
which their circumstances rendered necessary, and severe exercise
and short diet became habitual to them; at the same time the
extensive preparations of the enemy, the great importance of the
fortress, and the determined character of General Eliott and his
garrison, occasioned this siege to become a subject of universal
interest, and the eyes of all Europe were directed towards
Gibraltar, watching the result of the contest.
As the enemy's works progressed, the pavement of the streets was
taken up, the towers of conspicuous buildings were pulled down, the
guard-houses unroofed, the stone sentry-boxes removed, traverses
raised, a covered way begun, and every measure adopted to prevent
the bombardment of the place being attended with serious results.
[Sidenote: 1780]
Early in 1780 provisions became short, and the soldiers cheerfully
submitted to privation; but soon afterwards the garrison was
relieved by a fleet from England: the wants of the troops were,
however, not supplied in many important articles.
[Sidenote: 1781]
The Spaniards renewed the blockade by sea, and sent nine fire-ships
into the harbour, but failed in the attempt to destroy the
shipping. Provisions soon became deficient again; vegetables were
cultivated on the rock with some success; a precarious supply of
several articles was obtained from the Moors, and in April, 1781,
the garrison was again relieved.
The siege was continued, and a severe bombardment reduced a great
part of the town to a heap of ruins.
General Eliott deliberately watched the progress of the enemy, and
kept his garrison close within the fortress, until a favourable
opportunity presented itself for a sally, when the following
'Evening garrison order' was issued, dated November 26, 1781:
'COUNTERSIGN, STEADY.--All the grenadiers and light infantry in
the garrison, and all the men of the TWELFTH and Hardenberg's
regiments, with the officers and non-commissioned officers on duty,
to be immediately relieved and join their regiments, to form a
detachment, consisting of the TWELFTH and Hardenberg's regiments
complete; the grenadiers and light infantry of all the other
regiments; one captain, three lieutenants, ten non-commissioned
officers and a hundred artillery; three engineers, seven officers,
ten non-commissioned officers, overseers, with a hundred and sixty
workmen from the line, and forty workmen from the artificer corps;
each man to have thirty-six rounds of ammunition, with a good
flint in his piece, and another in his pocket; the whole to be
commanded by Brigadier-General Ross, and to assemble on the red
sands, at twelve o'clock this night, to make a _sortie_ upon the
enemy's batteries. The thirty-ninth and fifty-eighth regiments to
parade at the same hour, on the grand parade, under the command of
Brigadier-General Picton, to sustain the _sortie_ if necessary.'
The TWELFTH appeared on parade at the appointed hour, and mustered
twenty-six officers, twenty-eight serjeants, two drummers, and
four hundred and thirty rank and file, ready to engage in this
enterprise. It was the hour of midnight; the moon shone brightly,
and all was still in the enemy's camp. The soldiers waited two
hours, when the moon set, darkness overspread the sky, and they
issued silently from the fortress. The Spanish regiments were
asleep in the camp; their guards at the batteries were also
reposing, when suddenly the sound of a trampling multitude was
heard approaching them; their sentries called, and receiving
no answer, fired their muskets and hurried to the guards. They
were followed by the British at a running pace; the guards were
surprised, the batteries captured, and two Spanish officers, with
sixteen soldiers, were made prisoners; the Spanish guards were
astounded by the suddenness of the onset in the dark; they hurried
to their lines, communicating a panic to the troops in their
rear. The British instantly commenced the work of destruction.
'The batteries (constructed of wood upon the sands) were soon in a
state for the fire-faggots to operate, and the flame spread with
astonishing rapidity into every part. The column of fire and smoke
which rolled from the works, beautifully illuminated the troops
and neighbouring objects, forming altogether a _coup-d'œil_ not
possible to be described.'[15]
In one hour the object of the _sortie_ was fully effected; the
Spaniards, being dismayed, did not venture to interrupt the work;
and trains being laid to the enemy's magazines, the TWELFTH, and
other troops which had made the sally, retired; as they entered the
fortress, tremendous explosions shook the ground like the shocks
of an earthquake, accompanied by rising volumes of smoke, flame,
and burning timber, which proclaimed the destruction of the enemy's
immense stores of gunpowder.
Thus was completed, with success beyond the expectations of
every one, an enterprise of the greatest magnitude; and General
Eliott declared in orders, 'the bravery and conduct of the whole
detachment, officers, soldiers, and sailors, on this glorious
occasion, surpassed his utmost expectation.' The loss of the
TWELFTH regiment was limited to Lieutenant Tweedie and four private
soldiers wounded: the total loss of the garrison was four soldiers
killed, one officer and twenty-four soldiers wounded, one man
missing.[16]
For several days the Spaniards appeared confounded at their
disgrace; the smoke of the burning batteries continued to rise,
and no attempt was made to extinguish the flames; but several
executions took place in their camp, probably of persons who fled
so precipitately from the batteries. In the beginning of December
they began to arouse themselves, and a thousand workmen commenced
labouring to restore the batteries, in which they were retarded by
the fire of the garrison.
The Spaniards, by their heavy fire on the fortress, had already
spoiled three sets of guns; but the court of Madrid appeared bent
on capturing Gibraltar. An immense quantity of ordnance of larger
calibre was provided, numerous batteries were prepared, and the
Duke of Crillon assumed the command of the besieging army. He was
assisted by a celebrated French engineer, Monsieur d'Arcon, and
by Admiral Moreno, and a French army arrived to take part in the
siege. At the same time stupendous preparations were made on a new
principle, and floating batteries were constructed with great art
and labour, and were accounted the most perfect contrivance of the
kind ever seen.
[Sidenote: 1782]
A crisis was evidently approaching, and in the spring and summer
of 1782, the garrison of Gibraltar made preparations with cool
determination for the hour of trial: the officers and soldiers
appeared to be impressed with their peculiar situation; an
important fortress was confided to their protection; they had
defended it against the efforts of the Spanish army and navy
upwards of two years; and the eyes of all Europe were directed
towards them. The damaged works were carefully repaired, new ones
were constructed, extensive subterraneous works were prepared, and
forges for heating red-hot shot were got ready; every serjeant,
drummer, musician, and officer's servant, as well as the corporals
and private soldiers, used a shovel, pickaxe, or musket, according
as their services were required. The effect of the red-hot shot was
proved on some of the enemy's wooden batteries on the sands, which
were speedily destroyed.
The Duke of Crillon anticipated the most signal success from the
extensive preparations he was making; his camp was visited by
princes of the royal blood of France, by Spanish nobility, and
other dignified characters of Europe, who came to be spectators of
the fall of the fortress under the heavy fire of artillery which
was about to be opened upon it. The new batteries on shore were
unmasked, and fired a volley of sixty shells, which was followed
by the thunder of one hundred and seventy guns of large calibre.
Thus was Gibraltar assailed by a storm of iron, which threatened
to reduce the fortress to a heap of ruins, and this was only a
prelude to the tremendous fire which was afterwards opened upon the
garrison.
On the 13th of September, the ten battering ships took their
station before the fortress, in the presence of the combined fleets
of France and Spain: the enemy's camp and neighbouring hills were
crowded with spectators from various parts of Europe, to witness
the effect of these stupendous vessels, and such a storm of war
was opened upon the garrison, as was probably never heard before
since the invention of cannon. The batteries of the fortress
answered this tremendous fire with vigour, and the deafening
thunder of four hundred pieces of heavy artillery was heard for
many miles. For some hours the attack and defence were so equally
well supported, as scarcely to admit any appearance of superiority
in the cannonade on either side. The wonderful construction of the
battering ships seemed to bid defiance to the heaviest ordnance;
shells rebounded from their tops, and a thirty-two pound shot
scarcely seemed to make any impression on them. The effect of the
red-hot shot was doubted; sometimes smoke came from the ships, but
the fire-engines within soon occasioned it to cease, and the result
was uncertain; the fire was, however, persevered in, and incessant
showers of red-hot bullets, shells, and carcases flew through
the air. In the afternoon the effects of the red-hot shot became
apparent, and volumes of smoke issued from the flag-ship; the
Admiral's second ship was perceived to be in the same condition,
and confusion prevailed. The Spaniards expected that the firing of
red-hot bullets could not be persevered in beyond a few rounds;
but the fire was continued with the same precision and vivacity
as cold shot. The effects of the hot balls occasioned the enemy's
cannonade to abate, and about eight o'clock it almost totally
ceased. The battering ships made signals to inform the combined
fleets of their extreme danger and distress, and several boats were
sent to their aid. At this period the fire of the garrison produced
great carnage, and the most pitiable cries and groans were heard,
as the incessant showers of shot and shells were poured into the
floating batteries. Soon after midnight one ship was in flames, and
by two o'clock she appeared one sheet of fire from head to stern; a
second was soon in the same state; the flames enabled the British
artillery to point their guns with precision, and soon after
three o'clock six more ships exhibited the effects of the red-hot
shot. The burning ships exhibited one of the grandest spectacles
of destruction ever beheld; and amidst this dreadful scene of
conflagration, the British seamen in boats were seen endeavouring
to rescue the Spaniards from the blazing ships. They preserved
between three and four hundred; and while they were thus engaged,
one of the ships blew up with a dreadful explosion; four others met
the same fate before seven o'clock, and another shortly afterwards,
and the remainder burnt to the water's edge, their magazines having
been inundated; not one could be preserved as a trophy.
Thus did the mighty efforts of France and Spain end in defeat
and destruction, and the gallant efforts of the brave soldiers
who defended Gibraltar elicited the admiration of the nations in
Europe. In England the most enthusiastic applause was universal;
illuminations and other modes of testifying the joy of the people
followed the receipt of the news of the destruction of the boasted
invincible battering ships, and every family which could boast a
defender of Gibraltar belonging to it, was proud of the honour.
The loss of the garrison, on the 13th and 14th of September,
was limited to one officer, two serjeants, and thirteen private
soldiers killed; five officers and sixty-three rank and file
wounded; that of the enemy exceeded two thousand officers and
soldiers.
Although the enemy gave up all hopes of reducing Gibraltar by
force of arms, yet some expectation was entertained, that, if the
blockade were continued, the garrison might be forced to surrender
from the want of provisions; the combined fleet therefore remained
in the bay, the besieging army continued in the lines, and about
a thousand shots were fired every day from the Spanish batteries.
The garrison was encouraged to continue resolute in the defence of
the fortress by assurances of their Sovereign's favour and high
approbation. The principal Secretary of State, writing to General
Eliott, stated,--'I am honored with His Majesty's commands to
assure you, in the strongest terms, that no encouragement shall
be wanting to the brave officers and soldiers under your command;
his royal approbation of the past will, no doubt, be a powerful
incentive to future exertions, and I have the King's authority
to assure you, that every distinguished act of emulation and
gallantry, which shall be performed in the course of the siege, by
any, even of the lowest rank, will meet with ample reward from his
gracious protection and favour.'
[Sidenote: 1783]
In October, the combined fleet was much damaged by a storm; and
soon afterwards a British naval force arrived, and the garrison
was again relieved; when two regiments, the twenty-fifth and
fifty-ninth, landed to take part in the defence of the fortress.
After the garrison was thus relieved and reinforced a third time,
the Court of Madrid gave up all hopes of gaining possession of
Gibraltar either by force or stratagem: negociations ensued, and
in February, 1783, the Spanish army decamped; the preliminary
articles for a treaty of peace having been signed in the preceding
month. Thus ended the siege of "GIBRALTAR," which is celebrated in
the military annals of the eighteenth century, and the successful
defence of that fortress, ranks among the noblest efforts of the
British arms: it exceeded in duration the famous siege of OSTEND,
in the beginning of the seventeenth century.[17]
The TWELFTH regiment of foot was rewarded, with the other corps
which took part in this long and arduous service, with the thanks
of its Sovereign, and of the Houses of Parliament, and with the
honour of bearing on its colours the word 'GIBRALTAR,' with the
'_Castle and Key_,' and the motto '_Montis Insignia Calpé_,' in
commemoration of its services during the siege.[18]
The loss of the regiment during the siege of Gibraltar was--
+-------------------------+----------+-----------+----------+---------+
| | Officers.| Serjeants.| Drummers.| Rank and|
| | | | | File. |
+-------------------------+----------+-----------+----------+---------+
| Killed | 1 | 3 | 1 | 13 |
| Died of Wounds | | | | 10 |
| Disabled by Wounds | 1 | | | 10 |
| Wounded, that recovered | 2 | 4 | 7 | 89 |
| Died of Diseases | | 3 | | 32 |
| +----------+-----------+----------+---------+
| Total | 4 | 10 | 8 | 154 |
+-------------------------+----------+-----------+----------+---------+
During the period the TWELFTH were engaged in the glorious defence
of Gibraltar, county-titles were given to the several regiments of
infantry, and the communication with England having become free,
the TWELFTH received directions to assume the title of the 'EAST
SUFFOLK REGIMENT,' and to cultivate a connection with that part of
the country, in order to facilitate the recruiting of the regiment.
[Illustration:
_J. M. Jopling del^t._ _Madeley Lith. 3 Wellington S^t Strand._
TWELFTH REGIMENT OF FOOT.
VIEW OF THE NORTH PART OF GIBRALTAR, AND OF THE ATTACK BY LAND AND
SEA SEPT^R 13^{TH} & 14^{TH} 1782
_For Cannons Military Records_]
In November, the TWELFTH were relieved from duty at the fortress of
Gibraltar, which they had so gallantly defended, and returned to
England; they landed at Portsmouth, from whence they proceeded to
Hilsea barracks, and in December, they marched to Windsor.
[Sidenote: 1784]
King George III. was highly gratified at having a corps, which
had distinguished itself during the memorable siege of Gibraltar,
employed near his person, and on the 1st and 8th of June, 1784,
His Majesty reviewed the TWELFTH regiment in Windsor Park, in the
presence of the Royal Family, and many distinguished personages,
and expressed, in very gracious terms, his high approbation of its
appearance and discipline, and of its conduct during the siege of
Gibraltar.
The regiment remained at Windsor on the King's duty until November,
when it proceeded to Chatham.
[Sidenote: 1785]
[Sidenote: 1786]
[Sidenote: 1787]
[Sidenote: 1788]
During the years 1785, 1786, and 1787, the regiment was stationed
successively at Newcastle, Tynemouth, Sunderland, Musselburgh,
Ayr, Edinburgh, and Plymouth; on the 10th of January, 1788, it was
reviewed by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, afterwards King
George IV., who was then in the seventeenth year of his age, and
his person and accomplishments excited the admiration of all who
beheld him. In a few days after the review, the regiment proceeded
to the islands of Jersey and Guernsey.
[Sidenote: 1790]
The TWELFTH were relieved from duty at Jersey and Guernsey in
March, 1790, and sailed to Portsmouth. Two months afterwards,
orders were received for the regiment to serve on board the fleet
as marines, and in the middle of June it embarked on board of His
Majesty's ships 'Barfleur,' 'Carnatic,' 'Bellona,' 'Impregnable,'
'Magnificent,' and 'Edgar'; at the same time the staff officers,
musicians, and a few soldiers who were not employed on this
service, proceeded to Hilsea barracks.
After six months' service as marines the companies landed and
joined the head-quarters at Hilsea barracks; towards the end of
December the whole embarked for Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1791]
[Sidenote: 1792]
[Sidenote: 1793]
The regiment landed near Cork on the 5th of January, 1791, and
marched to Kinsale; in the summer of 1792, it proceeded to Dublin,
from whence it was removed in March, 1793, to Drogheda.
In the meantime a revolution had taken place in France; men
of violent republican principles had seized on the reins of
government, beheaded their Sovereign, and involved Europe in
another war. The pernicious doctrines of liberty and equality
had been disseminated in the French West India Islands, and the
European planters had solicited the protection of the British arms
against the fury of the mulattoes and negroes. War was commenced
to arrest the tyrannical proceedings of aggression pursued by
the French republic;--a British army was sent to Flanders under
His Royal Highness the Duke of York; additional forces were sent
to the West Indies, and in November the flank companies of the
TWELFTH foot, commanded by Captains Tweedie and Perryn, Lieutenants
Mathews, Leister, Leister junior, and O'Brien, embarked for the
West Indies.
[Sidenote: 1794]
The deliverance of the French West India Islands from republican
domination, was undertaken in January, 1794; the flank companies
of the TWELFTH joined the expedition under General Sir Charles
Grey, K. B. (afterwards Earl Grey), at Barbadoes, and were engaged
in the attack of _Martinico_. A landing was effected at three
different points in the early part of February, and after some
sharp fighting, in which the companies of the TWELFTH signalized
themselves, particularly the grenadier company, forming part of the
brigade commanded by Prince Edward (afterwards Duke of Kent), which
captured Fort Royal by escalade on the 17th of March, and carried
Morne Tartisson by storm, the island was captured. In his despatch,
Sir Charles Grey stated,--'All the officers and soldiers of this
little army merit the greatest praise.' The loss of the TWELFTH
foot was limited to a few private soldiers killed and wounded.
From Martinico the flank companies of the TWELFTH sailed with the
expedition against _St. Lucia_, where the troops arrived on the
1st of April, and the companies of the TWELFTH took part in the
reduction of that island, which was accomplished in three days
without loss.
The flank companies were afterwards engaged in the capture of
_Guadaloupe_ and its dependencies, in which service they lost
several men. The rapid success with which the British empire was
thus extended, by the addition of three valuable islands and their
dependencies, excited great admiration; and Sir Charles Grey
stated in his despatch, that he 'could not find words to convey an
adequate idea, or to express the high sense he entertained, of the
extraordinary merit evinced by the officers and soldiers in this
service.'
While the flank companies were engaged in the capture of the
French West India Islands, the regiment was withdrawn from Ireland
to reinforce the troops under the Duke of York in Flanders; it
embarked from Drogheda on the 7th of March, landed at Parkgate on
the 14th, re-embarked at Greenwich on the 1st of May, and landed at
Ostend on the 6th of that month.
On arriving at the seat of war, the regiment was ordered to join
the corps under the Austrian General Count Clerfait, who commanded
the troops in West Flanders, and it was attached to the division
under Major-General Hammerstein, together with the thirty-eighth
and fifty-fifth regiments, and the eighth light dragoons.
The TWELFTH regiment, commanded by Major Frederick Bowes,
consisting of eight hundred and fifteen rank and file, took part
in numerous operations, and was engaged in the general attack on
the French positions on the 17th and 18th of May. On the latter
day, the TWELFTH were engaged in driving the enemy from _Werwick_,
and in forcing the passage of the river _Lys_, on which occasion
they highly distinguished themselves; but the operations on the
above two days were not successful, from the want of a more perfect
combination in the movements of the several divisions, and from the
superior numbers of the enemy.
In division orders, dated Camp near Tournay, 20th May, 1794,
Major-General Whyte stated 'he had great pleasure in informing the
British troops, that General Count Clerfait has highly approved of
their spirited conduct in the field, and great exertions in going
through such excessive fatigues, as they necessarily have had since
their first movement from Ostend. Major-General Whyte laments the
loss sustained by the eighth light dragoons, whose spirited and
distinguished gallantry, led on by Lieut.-Colonel Hart, has gained
them the highest honour; and he desires his thanks may be accepted
by the commanding officers, and all the officers and men of the
thirty-eighth and fifty-fifth regiments; and also by Major BOWES
and the officers and men of the TWELFTH regiment, whose conduct
has been highly approved of by Major-General Hammerstein, under
whose immediate command they served. To Lieut.-Colonel Hart, who
led on the squadron of the eighth light dragoons to the attack at
Rousbeck, his best and distinguished thanks are due; and also to
Lieut.-Colonel M'Donald, who led on the fifty-fifth regiment to
support the attack on the front. He is perfectly convinced the
same praise would have been due to Lieut.-Colonel Pitcairn of the
thirty-eighth, had they been called into action.'
The TWELFTH foot continued to serve under General Count Clerfait,
and when the French besieged _Ypres_, with thirty thousand men,
with a covering army of twenty-five thousand, the regiment was
engaged in the attempt to relieve that fortress. The Austrian
advance-guard was repulsed at Olglede on the 7th of June; but
the French were defeated in their attempt on Rouselaer. Still
entertaining hopes of being able to raise the siege, Count Clerfait
attacked the French again on the 13th of June, at Hoogledge, and
Major-General Hammerstein engaged a body of the enemy, of very
superior numbers, at Kootmarke, and was repulsed. He afterwards
retreated to Bruges, detaching the eighth light dragoons, and
thirty-eighth and fifty-fifth foot to Ostend.
The very superior numbers of the enemy gave them so great an
advantage, that the allied army was forced to commence retrograde
movements. The TWELFTH foot remained with Major-General
Hammerstein's division until the 9th of July, when the following
paragraph appeared in the division orders issued at the camp at
Contiche,--'As the TWELFTH British regiment is going to leave
Major-General Hammerstein's brigade, he takes this opportunity to
assure the regiment of his best acknowledgments for the good and
gallant behaviour it has shown during the time the general has had
the honour to command it; he likewise thanks it for the readiness
and good will with which it has borne so many and great fatigues.'
On its removal from Major-General Hammerstein's command, the
regiment was formed in brigade with the thirty-third, forty-second,
and forty-fourth foot, under Major-General Balfour. In August it
was in position near Breda, and in the beginning of September
retired to the vicinity of Bois-le-duc.
In the middle of September the enemy advanced in great force,
and attacked all the British posts on the right; the outpost at
_Boxtel_, being most advanced, was forced, and the troops of Hesse
D'Armstadt, who occupied it, sustained a severe loss. The post,
occupied by a detachment of the TWELFTH regiment, was environed
and assailed by very superior numbers; it was defended with
great gallantry for a short time, but the soldiers were unable
to withstand so overwhelming a force as that by which they were
assailed. The regiment had a few soldiers killed and wounded, and
Lieutenant Eustace, three serjeants, one drummer, and forty-four
rank and file taken prisoners. The British troops afterwards
retired beyond the river Maese.
In the meantime, the flank companies had been engaged in the
defence of the island of _Guadaloupe_, where about two thousand
French troops had arrived from Europe, and being joined by a
multitude of mulattoes and blacks, among whom the doctrines of
liberty and equality were disseminated, they gained possession of
part of the island, and frightful outrages were perpetrated. The
companies of the TWELFTH were engaged in an attempt to regain
possession of Grand-Terre; but the troops employed in this service
were not sufficiently numerous. The TWELFTH had Lieutenant John
Leister and several soldiers killed, and others wounded.
The companies of the TWELFTH were employed in the defence of
Guadaloupe under great disadvantages, and they were nearly
annihilated. The island was given up in October, and the few
remaining officers and soldiers proceeded to St. Domingo.
Meanwhile the TWELFTH regiment, serving under the Duke of York,
in Holland, was exposed to much suffering and privation. The
Dutch, having imbibed the revolutionary doctrines of equality,
beheld the advance of the French without alarm, and surrendered
their fortresses without much resistance. The British troops had
no chance of ultimate success, yet they held their positions with
firmness, and they did not fail to impress the enemy with a just
idea of British valour. The TWELFTH were in position near Nimeguen
in September, and afterwards attempted to defend the passage of the
Waal.
[Sidenote: 1795]
During the winter the river Waal became frozen, so as to admit the
immense masses of the enemy to pass on the ice, and the British
were obliged to retreat through Holland to Germany. The sufferings
of the soldiers during this retrograde movement were very great;
long marches, exposed to snow-storms and tempests, along roads
choked with ice and snow, and a deficiency of provisions, put
to a severe test the strength of the officers and soldiers. In
March, 1795, they arrived at Bremen, where the hardships they
had endured were ended. The TWELFTH regiment lost so many men
during the campaign and retreat through Holland, that its numbers
were reduced from eight hundred and fifteen to four hundred and
twenty-five rank and file.
The regiment embarked from Bremenlee on the 11th of April,
landed at Gosport on the 12th of May, and marched from thence
to Portchester, where it was joined by Lieutenant O'Brien, one
serjeant, and one private soldier from the West Indies; being the
only surviving individuals of the two fine flank companies which
proceeded to the West Indies in 1793.
Every effort was made to recruit the regiment as speedily as
possible, and on the 2nd of July, it was reviewed by His Royal
Highness the Duke of York, who expressed his approbation of its
appearance.
On the 19th of October, the regiment embarked from Southampton, and
sailed to Spithead, where it remained a few days, and afterwards
put to sea. On the 5th of October, it landed on the Isle de Dieu,
in conjunction with a small force under Major-General Needham, and
a body of French emigrants, accompanied by the Count D'Artois,
brother of the King of France. No circumstances occurred to favour
any further attempts connected with this enterprise, and in
December the regiment left the island; it was exposed to several
violent storms at sea, but arrived safely at Southampton in ten
days, and marched from thence to Iron-hill barracks.
[Sidenote: 1796]
The regiment was stationed in the neighbourhood of Southampton, and
in the Isle of Wight, until the 8th of June, 1796, when it embarked
in the 'Rockingham,' 'Hawksbury,' 'Airly castle,' and 'Melville
castle' Indiamen, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Henry Harvey
Aston, in order to transfer its services to the East Indies. The
regiment sailed from St. Helens on the 27th of June, and on the
19th of September anchored in Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope; that
colony having been captured from the Dutch a short time previously.
The regiment remained on board, but small parties landed daily for
the benefit of their health. While the Indiamen were in Table Bay,
a dreadful hurricane threatened the destruction of every ship,
and they all sustained some injury, several losing their anchors.
Serious apprehensions were entertained for the safety of the
regiment; but providentially it did not sustain any loss, and it
sailed from the Cape of Good Hope on the 10th of November.
[Sidenote: 1797]
On the 10th of January, 1797, the Indiamen anchored in Madras
roads; the regiment landed on the following day at Fort St George,
and mustered eight hundred and seventy rank and file, whose
appearance excited admiration.
The regiment was employed on garrison duty at Fort St. George until
the middle of August, when it embarked for Manilla, the capital
of the Spanish settlements in the Philippine Islands, situate
on the banks of a bay, at the mouth of the river Pasig, in the
island of Luconan. On the 23rd of August six companies proceeded
on the voyage; the other four companies were embarked on board of
men-of-war, and were about to follow, when orders were received
for their disembarking, in consequence of intelligence from the
Mysore country, indicating a projected irruption into the British
territory by the celebrated Tippoo Saib.
The six companies continued the voyage, and arrived in September
at the Prince of Wales's Island, called also Penang, or Betel Nut
Island, situated off the west coast of the Malay peninsula, from
which it is separated by a narrow strait. At this place a large
fleet was assembled, with a numerous body of troops, from the
Presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, for the expedition
against Luconan and the other Philippine islands; the Prince of
Wales's Island having been selected for the rendezvous of the
forces to be employed in this enterprise. The prospect of the
services of the troops being speedily required in more important
military operations on the continent of India, occasioned orders to
be issued for their immediate return. Towards the end of September,
the 'Express' sloop arrived with despatches from Madras, and in a
few days afterwards the six companies of the TWELFTH sailed from
the Prince of Wales's Island. They encountered contrary winds, and
it being found impossible for the transports to contend against the
north-west monsoon, the TWELFTH returned to the island in October.
They again sailed for Madras on the 15th of November, and landed at
Fort George on the 12th of December; during their absence the other
four companies of the regiment had exchanged a few shots with a
French squadron, which had appeared in Madras-roads, and succeeded
in driving an Indiaman on shore under the works of the fort.
[Sidenote: 1798]
Among the various schemes of aggrandizement entertained by the
republican government of France, was the wild and extravagant idea
of being able to gain possession of the British territory in the
East Indies. To strike an effectual blow at the naval, commercial,
and colonial greatness of the British nation, was an object of
primary consideration with the French directory, and to excite
the jealousy of the native princes of India, and induce them to
take up arms against the English, was one of the means used to
accomplish this object. In the ruler of the fruitful province of
Mysore, the celebrated Tippoo Sultan, the French found a chieftain
eager to seize on the first opportunity for being revenged on the
British, who had punished his former aggressions by depriving him
of a considerable portion of territory, and inflicting a fine
equal to three and a half millions sterling. This chief entered
zealously into the design to drive the English out of India, and
endeavoured to induce other princes to join in the enterprise.
After the discovery of the designs of the enemy, hostilities were
delayed some time, and the TWELFTH regiment marched for Tanjore,
the capital of a well-cultivated province in the Carnatic, where it
arrived on the 1st of March, 1798.
The regiment was reviewed at Tanjore, by Major-General Floyd, who
expressed in orders to Colonel Aston, the officers, and soldiers,
'the satisfaction he received on inspecting the eight companies of
the TWELFTH regiment of infantry at the station;' and added--'In
the masterly hands of their commanding officer, there is every
reason to expect that His Majesty's TWELFTH regiment of infantry
will, whenever called upon, be ready and disposed to renew in the
east the glories of Minden and Gibraltar.'
Preparatory to the grand enterprise of driving the English out of
India, General Bonaparte was sent with a French army to Egypt; many
French officers and men were introduced into the army of Tippoo
Sultan, and other measures were adopted calculated to forward the
design. Under these circumstances the Governor-General of India,
Lord Mornington, deemed it necessary to assemble a body of troops
on the coast of Coromandel, and to engage the Nizam of the Deccan
to furnish an auxiliary force. The TWELFTH regiment marched from
the fortress of Tanjore, on the 22nd of July, to join the army
assembling under the orders of Lieut.-General Harris.
[Sidenote: 1799]
On the 1st of January, 1799, the regiment joined the camp of the
army advancing towards Mysore, and negociations having failed, the
troops penetrated the territory of Tippoo Sultan in the beginning
of March. The TWELFTH, seventy-fourth, and Scots brigade, formed
the first brigade of infantry under Major-General Baird.
During the night of the 7th of March, the regiment was employed,
under Major-General Baird, in an attempt to surprise the camp of a
body of the enemy's cavalry, but the Mysoreans obtained information
of the design and made a precipitate retreat.
On the following day, the light company of the TWELFTH, commanded
by Captain Woodhall, took possession of _Neldroog_ without
opposition.
The British advanced direct upon the capital of the Mysore country,
_Seringapatam_,[19] and Tippoo endeavoured to harass the march
by skirmishes, and impede the progress of the troops by burning
villages and laying waste the country. The regiment having entered
upon active warfare, the Commanding Officer issued the following
order:--'As the TWELFTH regiment, from having the honour to be the
eldest King's regiment with the army, is more liable to be called
on for immediate service than other corps, the Commanding Officer
expects the Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Private Men,
will be ready, night or day, to turn out at the shortest notice,
and to parade under arms without noise or confusion. On all sudden
alarms the light infantry is instantly to accoutre without waiting
for orders, and to be in readiness to march whenever their services
may be required.'
On the 27th of March, as the Lascars were pitching the tents of the
army on a fine plain beyond the fort of _Malleville_, they were
suddenly assailed by a heavy cannonade from an eminence in front;
at the same time the advance-piquet, under Captain McPherson of the
TWELFTH regiment, was attacked by a force of very superior numbers,
but repulsed its assailants with distinguished bravery. The army
arriving on the plain, advanced in close column of regiments
towards the eminence, upon which large bodies of Mysorean cavalry
and infantry were formed, who withdrew their heavy guns, but
annoyed the advancing columns with rockets.
As the British columns approached the height, they formed line,
and ascended to the summit, which was abandoned by the enemy, but
a short distance beyond the eminence appeared the army of Mysore
in order of battle. As the TWELFTH moved forward, a large body
of Mysorean cavalry formed in the shape of a wedge, having an
elephant with a howdah on his back in front, appeared advancing
to charge the regiment, and the British line halted to receive
the attack. Immediately afterwards two other very large bodies of
the enemy were discovered in two topes, or woods, preparing to
support the first charge. Lieut.-General Harris, seeing the danger
which menaced the regiment, placed himself in its rear, frequently
repeating the words, 'Steady, Twelfth!' 'Steady, old Twelfth!'
and when the wedge approached within a hundred yards of the line,
the Mysoreans discharged their carbines and pistols, but without
doing execution. The TWELFTH remained steady, with their muskets
at the recover, until the enemy arrived within about thirty yards,
when a well-directed volley, followed by a rapid file firing,
carried destruction into the enemy's ranks; a rampart of killed
and wounded men and horses lying along the front of the regiment.
The rear of the wedge was embarrassed by the killed and wounded
in front, and could not continue their charge. The elephant was
severely wounded, his conductor killed, the chiefs on his back had
fallen, and he turned round and directed all his fury upon the
Mysoreans, overturning everything in his retrograde movement, and
producing great havoc with a prodigious chain, which he swayed. A
few Mysorean horsemen broke through the regiment, but they were
instantly shot in its rear, and the British artillery arriving, and
opening its fire, the enemy's cavalry fell back; at the same time
the British line advanced, and decided the fate of the day at that
part of the field; a distant cannonade, however, indicated that the
battle was raging elsewhere.
The left of the right wing was opposed to Tippoo's infantry,
and gained a complete victory; between seven and eight thousand
Mysoreans being put _hors de combat_: the loss of the British did
not amount to so many hundreds.
In general orders issued on the same evening, it was stated, 'The
Commander-in-Chief congratulates the army on the happy result of
this day's action, during which he had various opportunities of
witnessing its gallantry, coolness, and attention to orders:' and
in brigade orders, 'Major-General Baird, with the most heartfelt
satisfaction, congratulates the brigade on the victory obtained
this day over the enemy; it is sufficient for him to say, that the
valour of the corps fully answered his expectation.'
On the following morning, the army continued its advance upon
the capital of Mysore, and the enemy used various stratagems to
retard the movement until the approach of the rainy season should
render the siege of Seringapatam impracticable. The water was
found impregnated with poison; many men were taken seriously ill,
and several horses fell down dead while in the act of drinking;
the smoking ruins of villages, and other scenes of devastation
presented themselves; at the same time large bodies of hostile
cavalry hovered round the army, and the camp was often annoyed by
rockets; but the British forces moved steadily forward, and on the
3rd of April they arrived within four miles of _Seringapatam_,--a
city and fortress, which had attained considerable strength and
splendour under Hyder Ali and his son Tippoo Sultan: it is situate
at the upper end of an island, four miles long, and a mile and a
half broad, in the river Cavery.
About six o'clock on the evening of the 3rd of April, the TWELFTH
regiment, with the flank companies of the seventy-fourth and
Scots brigade, assembled under Major-General Baird, to beat up
the enemy's cavalry encampments: they were out all night without
effecting the surprise of any of the enemy's detachments; but about
three o'clock on the following morning they came suddenly upon a
numerous body of Mysorean cavalry, when they rushed forward and
bayoneted nearly every man before the Mysoreans could mount their
horses, which were led into the British camp at six o'clock, at the
moment the army was about to commence its march.
On the 4th of April, the army arrived in sight of Seringapatam;
the soldiers had skirmished with the enemy's cavalry and rocket
men, during the march, and in the evening a general order was
issued, in which it was stated,--'The Commander-in-Chief takes
this opportunity of noticing the high sense he has of the general
exertion of the troops throughout the long and tedious march, with
the largest encampment ever known to move with any army in India;
and in congratulating them on a sight of Seringapatam, he has every
confidence that a continuance of the same exertions will very
shortly put an end to their labours, and place the British colours
on its walls!'
The army took up a new position on the 5th of April, and in the
evening the TWELFTH regiment was ordered to advance, supported
by two battalions of Sepoys, and take possession of a nullah, or
bed of a river or aqueduct, about a mile and a half in front of
the camp. The night was very dark, but the regiment had scarcely
cleared the outposts, when the air was illuminated by hundreds of
fire-balls thrown up by the enemy, who thus detected the advance
of the British troops, and immediately commenced a heavy fire of
musketry and rockets, under which the TWELFTH continued to advance
in open column of companies. Suddenly, regular platoon firing
was heard in front, and showers of bullets assailed the regiment
on both flanks and in front, when it formed line. The trampling
sound of approaching troops occasioned the regiment to prepare
to charge with the bayonet, which was about to be executed, when
it was discovered that the approaching troops were one of the
battalions of Sepoys which had been ordered to support the TWELFTH.
This battalion had lost its road, moved to the front, and become
exposed to the attack of very superior numbers of the enemy, whom
it had engaged upwards of an hour, which accounted for the platoon
firing heard in front; it was retreating, bringing off its killed
and wounded, under Major Colin Campbell, and being pursued, formed
in the rear of the TWELFTH regiment. When the pursuing Mysoreans
discovered, by their fire-balls, the line of Europeans before them,
they fell back to a greater distance, but without any relaxation
in their fire, and so many spent balls struck the officers and
soldiers of the TWELFTH, that they were ordered to sit down to
await the approach of day for the completion of the enterprise;
the nullah was at some distance, and it could only be approached
by a road of difficult access. The regiment did not fire a shot,
but large quantities of ammunition were sent from the camp; the
incessant firing having given rise to the expectation that the
soldiers must have expended their cartridges.
About two o'clock on the following morning the enemy's firing
ceased, and at four the TWELFTH advanced. When the morning light
appeared, the regiment found itself in the rear of a long mud
wall and fragments of a ruined village, three hundred yards from
the nullah, which was occupied by thousands of Mysoreans and
French, with large masses of infantry on both flanks. Under these
circumstances, the regiment halted, and the pioneers threw up an
embankment on both flanks, to preserve it from enfilade. This work
was scarcely completed, when day-light enabled the Mysoreans to
discover the position and insignificant numbers of the regiment,
compared with their host, and they endeavoured to destroy it by
a storm of bullets, but the soldiers were sheltered by the mud
walls, and very few cannon-balls from the fort took effect, on
account of the distance. Lieut.-General Harris, observing the
unequal contest, ordered the artillery to fire on the enemy's
ranks, the balls passing over the heads of the TWELFTH, and the
British line advanced. The commanding officer of the detachment,
Lieut.-Colonel Shaw, saw the line moving steadily forward to his
support, and having entire confidence in the valour of the TWELFTH,
he resolved to attack the opposing legions with the bayonet; he
cautioned the soldiers to prepare, and giving the word 'CHARGE,
TWELFTH,' they sprang from behind the mud wall, raised a loud
shout, and rushed forward towards the nullah. The Mysoreans were
confounded by the suddenness of the attack; they saw the sparkling
steel bayonets of the TWELFTH approach, and abandoned their post in
a panic. As the TWELFTH rushed forward, several lines of Mysoreans
fired volleys at them, but the balls struck the sand many yards
from the regiment, and in five minutes the nullah was captured. The
enemy rallied behind a high bank, and made a show of a design to
retake the post, but the TWELFTH and Sepoys ascended the bank, and
kept up a well-directed file firing, which occasioned the Mysoreans
to retreat: a party of French were also driven from a post on the
left of the regiment. The nullah being thus carried, the artillery
of Seringapatam opened a heavy fire, which obliged the soldiers to
take shelter in the bed of the river. The post thus captured, was
designated 'Shaw's Post,' in honour of the commanding officer of
the detachment, Lieut.-Colonel Shaw of the seventy-fourth foot.
When the TWELFTH rushed forward to storm the post, the army
suspended its advance, awaiting the result, and a brigade
afterwards drove a body of the enemy from a wood on the right of
Shaw's Post. A breast-work was subsequently made to cover the
troops from the guns of Seringapatam, and the TWELFTH had the
honour to break ground before that important fortress. About
seven o'clock in the evening, the regiment was relieved by the
seventy-fourth foot: its loss was Lieutenants George Nixon and T.
Falla, and ten rank and file killed; Captain Whitler, Lieutenants
R. Nixon, Percival, King, and Neville, and a considerable number of
non-commissioned officers and soldiers, wounded.
The siege of Seringapatam was prosecuted with vigour; and in the
early part of May, a practicable breach was ready, when the TWELFTH
were selected to take part in storming this important fortress. For
this service, the flank companies of the European corps left in the
camp, the TWELFTH, thirty-third, seventy-third, and seventy-fourth
regiments, three corps of grenadier Sepoys, two hundred of the
Nizam's troops, a hundred of the artillery, and the corps of
pioneers, the whole under the orders of Major-General Baird, took
post in the trenches, to make the attack during the heat of the day
on the 4th of May, when the Mysoreans were likely to be surprised.
At one o'clock the signal was given, when the forlorn hope sprang
forward; six flank companies, and the TWELFTH regiment, also
issued from the trenches at a running pace, and were followed by
the remainder of the storming party; they passed the rocky bed of
the Cavery river under a heavy fire, crossed the glacis and ditch,
ascended the breaches in the _fausse braye_ and rampart in gallant
style, and overcame all resistance, with a resolution and valour
which proved the innate bravery of the officers and soldiers. The
Mysoreans were unable to withstand the prowess of the British
troops, and they were overpowered at all points.
During the heat of the conflict, Captain Woodhall was detached with
the light company of the TWELFTH, and a few men of the battalion
companies, to reinforce the troops fighting upon the inner rampart;
this party proceeded by a narrow path, passed a deep ditch to the
inward wall, and flanked and took in reverse the enemy's traverses,
which were defended by the Sultan in person, who was forced to
retire. As Tippoo and his suite were passing the small gate on the
northern face, into the body of the town, the light infantry of the
TWELFTH arrived at the inner side of the gate, and fired upon him
and his followers with such effect, that the gateway was choked
with killed and wounded, and the body of the Sultan was afterwards
found among the slain. After the firing had ceased at all other
points, resistance continued to be made at the palace; but upon
assurance of safety to the sons of Tippoo, the enemy surrendered,
and the capture of this important city and fortress was achieved.
The regiment had seventeen men killed, and forty-nine wounded
during the siege, and Lieutenant Shawe was shot through the leg
in the assault; the following officers died during the siege from
extraordinary fatigue and the effects of the climate; Major Allen,
Captain Buckeridge, Lieutenants Percival and Gahan, and Assistant
Surgeon Bacot.
On the following day it was stated in orders:--'The
Commander-in-Chief congratulates the gallant army he has the honor
to command on the conquest of yesterday; the effects arising from
the attainment of such an acquisition as far exceed the present
limits of detail, as the unremitting zeal, labour, and unparalleled
valour of the troops surpass the power of praise for services so
incalculable in their consequences: he must consider the troops
well entitled to the gratitude of their country.'
The Governor-General stated in a letter to Lieut.-General Harris,
'With the warmest sensation of admiration, affection, and
attachment, I offer my cordial thanks, and zealous congratulations
to you and all the officers and privates composing the gallant
army, which has achieved this glorious and decisive victory, with
a degree of energy, rapidity, and of skill, unparalleled in this
quarter of the globe, and seldom equalled in any part of the world.'
In general orders by Government, it was stated--'The Right
Honorable the Governor-General in Council, having this day received
from the Commander-in-Chief of the allied army in the field, the
official detail of the glorious and decisive victory obtained at
Seringapatam, on the 4th May, offers his cordial thanks and sincere
congratulations to the Commander-in-Chief and all the officers and
men composing the gallant army which achieved the capture of the
capital of Mysore on that memorable day.
'His Lordship views with admiration, the consummate judgment with
which the assault was planned, the unequalled rapidity, animation,
and skill, with which it was executed, and the humanity which
distinguished its success.
'Under the favour of Providence and the justice of our cause, the
established character of the army had inspired an early confidence
that the war, in which we were engaged, would be brought to a
speedy, prosperous, and honorable issue; but the events of the
4th of May, while they even surpassed the sanguine expectation
of the Governor-General in Council, have raised the reputation
of the British arms in India to a degree of splendour and glory,
unrivalled in the military history of this quarter of the globe,
and seldom approached in any part of the world.
'The lustre of the victory can be equalled only by the substantial
advantages which it promises to establish, by restoring the peace
and safety of the British possessions in India, and a durable
foundation of genuine security.
'The Governor-General in Council reflects with pride, satisfaction,
and gratitude, that in this arduous crisis, the spirit and
exertions of our Indian army have kept pace with those of our
countrymen at home; and that in India, as in Europe, Great Britain
has found in the malevolent designs of her enemies, an increasing
source of her own prosperity, fame, and power.'
[Illustration:
_Heath del._ _Madeley Lith. 3 Wellington S^t Strand._
TWELFTH REGIMENT OF FOOT.
STORMING OF SERINGAPATAM MAY 4^{TH} 1799.
_For Cannons Military Records._]
The territory subject to the late Tippoo Sultan was divided: to
Great Britain was allotted the capital and several extensive
districts; another portion was given to the Nizam; and a third to
the Mahratta power; the remainder continued to form an independent
state under a descendant of the ancient rulers of Mysore. Thus
was the hostile combination against England confounded, British
territory extended, and its power and revenue increased. The
TWELFTH regiment was afterwards rewarded with the royal authority
to bear the word SERINGAPATAM on its colours, to commemorate its
gallant conduct during this war, and the officers received medals
from the East India Company.[20] The regiment captured eight stand
of colours from the troops of Tippoo Sultan at the storming of the
capital.
After encamping a short time near Seringapatam, and afterwards near
Yarriagoranelly, the regiment marched into garrison at the captured
fortress; but while it was stationed there, a partisan, named
Dhoondia, excited the Mysoreans to take arms in opposition to the
allied powers, which occasioned orders to be issued for the TWELFTH
foot again to take the field. This partisan assembled an irregular
force, and gained possession of several fortified places. When a
small body of troops was sent against him, he fled, and was pursued
to the frontiers of the Mysore country.
[Sidenote: 1800]
The regiment was afterwards encamped near Seringapatam, where it
was joined in December, 1800, by the seventy-seventh foot, some
battalions of Sepoys, and a proportion of native cavalry, forming
a small army under Colonel Pater, for the purpose of reducing the
warlike tribes of the _Wynaad_ country,--a mountainous district
overrun with woods, and comprising about twelve hundred square
miles, situate in the province of Malabar.
[Sidenote: 1801]
Leaving the vicinity of Seringapatam on the 26th of December, five
companies of the regiment arrived at Manantoddy on the 9th of
January, 1801, and were employed until the 23rd of that month, in
stockading the small hill fort, and in making arrangements for
entering the woody districts of the Wynaad country.
From Manantoddy the TWELFTH proceeded to Peria Colgum, where they
constructed a redoubt: they afterwards marched to Lackerry Cottah,
at which village another redoubt was constructed.
The little army under Colonel Pater traversed the country in
almost every practicable direction, ascending hills, cutting roads
through almost impenetrable jungle of bamboos, skirmishing with the
warlike inhabitants, and forcing them to submit, in which service
the TWELFTH had several men killed and wounded: the climate, and
extraordinary fatigue undergone by the troops, also occasioned
the loss of many lives from disease. The Wynaad country having
been forced to submit, and the hostile rajah taken prisoner, the
companies of the TWELFTH regiment employed in this service returned
to Seringapatam.
The regiment quitted Seringapatam in the middle of October, 1801,
and proceeded to Trichinopoly, a celebrated city and fortress,
situate on a hill, or rock, three hundred and fifty feet high,
on the south bank of the river Cavery, opposite the island of
Seringam, famous for its magnificent Hindoo temples.
[Sidenote: 1802]
At Trichinopoly the regiment was joined in January, 1802, by the
remains of two companies, which had embarked on board of His
Majesty's ships, at Madras, for Batavia. These companies had
suffered severely from the climate of the island of Java; and of
the five officers and one hundred and twenty-five men who embarked
at Madras, only three officers and sixty-three soldiers returned;
Lieutenants Gordon and Neville and sixty-two men died of fevers,
and other diseases.
[Sidenote: 1803]
[Sidenote: 1804]
Three companies had been stationed under Major John Picton, at
Vellore, in the Carnatic, the residence of the family of the late
Tippoo Sultan, consisting of his brother, twelve sons, eight
daughters, and an immense number of women; and these companies were
afterwards employed against the insurgent sect called the Polygans,
in which several non-commissioned officers and soldiers were
killed and wounded; Lieutenant William Firth was also wounded, and
Lieutenant Parker died of the jungle fever. After the performance
of this service, the three companies joined the regiment at
Trichinopoly, where the TWELFTH were stationed during the years
1803 and 1804.
[Sidenote: 1805]
[Sidenote: 1806]
In August, 1805, the regiment marched to Seringapatam, where a
very fatal fever broke out in 1806, when the TWELFTH removed to an
encampment at some distance from the fortress; but they lost many
officers and soldiers in that and the following year.
[Sidenote: 1807]
In April, 1807, more than half the surviving officers and men were
suffering from disease, when an order arrived for the remainder to
march to the coast of Malabar, and occupy quarters at the port of
Cannanore, where the regiment was stationed upwards of eighteen
months.
[Sidenote: 1808]
At Cannanore the health of the men was restored, and when inspected
in 1808, by Colonel Cuppage, a district order was published, in
which the colonel expressed 'his thanks to Captain Eustace and
the officers and men of His Majesty's TWELFTH regiment, for their
handsome appearance at the review. The dress, steadiness, and
general appearance of the men, marked the great attention paid to
their discipline, and their uniform good conduct and friendly
disposition towards the natives reflect every credit on the corps.'
While the TWELFTH foot were at Cannanore, some disputes, of a
tedious and complicated character, occurred between the British
and the Rajah of _Travancore_, a province situate at the
south-west extremity of Hindoostan. In 1795, a treaty of alliance
was concluded between the British and the Rajah, who agreed to
subsidize three battalions of Sepoys for the defence of his
dominions; when the disputes with the Rajah came to a crisis, these
battalions were at the port of _Coulan_ (or _Quilon_), and they
were threatened with destruction by the natives, together with
every person in the British interest. While the execution of these
menaces was delayed, the TWELFTH regiment embarked, towards the end
of December, 1808, in potamars (small undecked vessels), to proceed
along the coast a distance of three hundred miles to Coulan, in the
Travancore country. Four of these boats, having three companies
and a half on board, arrived at their destination in a few days,
and were immediately landed, to the great joy of the Sepoys. A
severe gale of wind dispersed the boats containing the other
companies of the regiment, and several of them were wrecked on
the coast of Cochin, a small province on the north of Travancore,
but by great exertions the soldiers were saved; others gained the
port of Cochin, where they remained until the storm was over. One
potamar, containing Serjeant-Major Tilsey and thirty-three rank
and file, was driven on the coast of Travancore, near _Alleppi_,
when the natives sent off several small canoes. The soldiers,
believing they had arrived at the friendly port of Coulan, went on
board the canoes two or three at a time, but on landing they were
overpowered by the natives, their wrists broken with an iron bar,
their hands tied behind them, and they were cast into a dungeon,
where they remained several days without food. They were afterwards
conducted, when scarcely able to walk, to a high ground near the
sea, and precipitated into a watery grave. The serjeant-major was
reserved to the last, and as he witnessed his companions in arms
successively hurled headlong into the deep, he struggled to release
himself, and tore pieces of flesh from his shoulders with his
teeth, exclaiming 'Let me die like a soldier!' but the barbarians
derided him, and eventually put an end to his torments in the
same manner as the others. A negro youth, who accompanied this
portion of the regiment as cook, witnessed this tragic scene, and
was menaced with the same fate, but was spared, and he afterwards
made known the fate of the party. Another potamar, having nearly
a company on board, under Lieutenant George Blanchard Gray and
Adjutant Hayes, approached the coast a few miles from Coulan, and
were, in consequence of the shattered state of the vessel, deciding
on the propriety of landing, when a volley of musketry from the
shore announced the hostile intentions of the natives. The vessel
was bound together with some large tents, to prevent its splitting,
and it arrived safely at Cochin, but went to pieces in the harbour.
All the potamars being damaged, other vessels were procured to
continue the voyage.
The officers and men of the regiment, who arrived at Coulan on
the 29th of December, joined the Sepoys encamped near the town.
On the evening of the same day, the Travancoreans attacked the
piquet under Captain Clapham of the Sepoys; the fire of musketry
and artillery indicating a sharp conflict, Lieut.-Colonel Chalmers,
commanding the troops at that station, detached Ensign James
Keappock, and forty men of the TWELFTH, to support the Sepoys, and
the enemy was forced to retire, leaving about eighty men dead on
the scene of conflict.
The Travancoreans were excited to rage and fury against the
British, who had thus gained a footing in the heart of their
country; they assembled in immense multitudes before the camp, kept
up an incessant fire on the piquets, and heavy columns menaced
the encampment; the soldiers were thus kept constantly ready for
action, and they lay on their arms night and day.
[Sidenote: 1809]
On the 8th of January, 1809, the remainder of the regiment arrived
at Coulan, excepting one company, commanded by Lieutenant Thomas
Thompson, left with six hundred Sepoys and several guns for the
defence of Cochin. The men of the TWELFTH, with the Sepoys and
guns which had arrived, were landed as expeditiously as possible;
but the force was obliged to remain encamped on a sandy plain near
the sea, enclosed by an almost impenetrable forest of cocoa-nut
trees, from the want of means for carrying on active operations.
The Resident prohibited the felling of the trees to conciliate the
natives; but this produced no advantage, and the wood afforded
shelter to the Travancorean marksmen, who annoyed the camp with
their fire, keeping the troops in a constant state of alarm; the
outposts were also frequently attacked by parties of the enemy.
Before daylight, on the 15th of January, a tumultuous noise in
the wood proclaimed the approach of an immense number of men, and
at break of day the Travancoreans commenced an attack along the
whole front of the British line, at the same time heavy columns
were seen among the trees threatening both flanks. Thinking the
attack was a surprise, the enemy fired his artillery at the tents;
but when sufficient light enabled the Travancoreans to see the
British ranks, they immediately directed their guns on the TWELFTH
regiment, as if desirous of annihilating the Europeans first.
Thus perilously exposed to the enemy's numerous artillery, the
British instantly advanced the right wing of the TWELFTH and two
battalions of Sepoys against the enemy's left, and the left wing
of the TWELFTH, with one battalion of Sepoys, against the right
of the enemy's line. The whole force was instantly brought into
close action; but the British had only five small field-pieces
to answer the fire of the forty guns brought into action by the
enemy: the British musketry was, however, well directed, and the
incessant peals which echoed in the woods announced a vigorous
contest, which was continued for several hours, during which clouds
of barbed arrows, from the enemy's local troops, inflicted painful
wounds on the British soldiers. About mid-day, the TWELFTH were
ordered to charge with bayonets, and capture the enemy's artillery;
they rushed forward with distinguished bravery, the soldiers
shouting "Remember our murdered comrades at Alleppi!" as they
precipitated themselves upon their opponents. The Travancoreans
made a resolute defence, many of them being bayoneted at their
guns; and a discharge of grape-shot, from one field-piece, killed
eleven grenadiers of the TWELFTH regiment. During this contest
many distinguished acts of gallantry were displayed by the officers
and men, and Ensign Keappock, being attacked by two opponents,
slew them. Finally both wings of the regiment were triumphant;
heaps of Travancoreans fell beneath the bayonets of the TWELFTH,
who captured eighteen brass field-pieces. The loss of these guns
intimidated the enemy, who retired about three o'clock in the
afternoon, leaving five thousand killed and wounded on the field of
battle. The British were unable to follow up the advantage, from
the want of stores, which prevented their quitting the coast.
The enemy appears to have been very confident of success on this
occasion, and to have been intent on the annihilation of the
Europeans; several Travancoreans of their Carnatic brigade were
taken prisoners, and ropes being found in their possession, they
were questioned on the subject, when they confessed that the cords
were brought for the purpose of hanging the British soldiers, and
that the British officers were to have been trampled to death by
elephants.
The regiment had fifty men killed and wounded; no officers were
killed, but the following were wounded--Captain Richard Bayley,
Lieutenant M. J. Molloy, and Surgeon Robert Erskine.
On the succeeding day, the following statement was published in
orders,--'It is with the greatest satisfaction that Lieut.-Colonel
Chalmers congratulates the troops he has the honour to command, on
the glorious success obtained yesterday, against the attack of an
enemy whose force did not amount to less than thirty thousand men.
He begs leave to offer his most particular thanks to Lieut.-Colonel
PICTON, who commanded the right wing of this little force, with a
wing of the TWELFTH regiment, and to the officers, non-commissioned
officers, and privates, whose gallantry and high discipline have,
on all occasions, appeared conspicuous. Lieut.-Colonel Chalmers has
to offer his thanks to Major HAMILTON, who commanded on the left,
with a wing of His Majesty's TWELFTH regiment, and to the officers,
non-commissioned officers, and privates, whose gallant conduct
needs no further comment, than that they belonged to His Majesty's
TWELFTH.' The Political Resident, Colonel C. Macauly, stated in a
letter to Lieut.-Colonel Chalmers, 'I have received the details of
the victory over the united force of the Divan--an achievement that
reflects signal honour on the discipline and animated valour of the
troops under your command, and sheds fresh lustre on the British
arms.'
A numerous army of opponents continued to hover near the British
force at Coulan, and it was deemed advisable to cut down many of
the trees, to throw up a breast-work in front of the encampment,
and to construct a redoubt, which was armed with the guns taken
from the enemy.
In the mean time, the company of the TWELFTH under Lieutenant
Thompson, with the battalion of Sepoys, commanded by Major Hewett,
left for the defence of the port of _Cochin_, had been attacked
by the troops of the Rajah of the province of Cochin. During the
action, the Sepoys gave way, and the company of the TWELFTH had to
maintain a desperate struggle with very superior numbers. The enemy
was repulsed, and the inhabitants of Cochin were preserved from
a general massacre, with which they had been menaced for being
favourable to the British interests; they openly attributed their
preservation to the distinguished heroism of the company of the
TWELFTH, which had half its non-commissioned officers and private
soldiers killed and wounded; Lieutenant Thompson was severely
wounded, and died a short time afterwards.
The TWELFTH regiment and Sepoys continued to resist the armed
population of Travancore and the numerous forces of the Rajah;
but being constantly harassed by the approach of bodies of the
enemy, the physical powers of the soldiers became diminished, and
their numbers decreased by disease; but the innate valour of the
troops remained unabated. Before daylight on the 31st of January,
the Travancoreans made another effort to surprise the camp; but
a rocket announced their approach, and the British were under
arms, as they usually were, at three o'clock in the morning: many
of the cocoa-nut trees had been cut down to enlarge the plain,
and as the enemy's heavy columns emerged from the wood, a sharp
cannonade was opened upon them; but they formed line under fire
and advanced, when the guns of the redoubt rent chasms in their
ranks. Undismayed by the storm of grape and bullets which smote
their ranks, the Travancoreans pressed forward, and endeavoured to
establish several guns on a rising ground; but the artillery of the
redoubt dismounted their ordnance. After keeping up an irregular
fire of musketry for some time, they withdrew from the front, and
concentrating on the right, renewed the attack with greater vigour,
when the left wing of the TWELFTH regiment was detached under
Captain William Henry Forssteen, to aid the Sepoys on that flank.
On the arrival of the TWELFTH on the right, a charge with bayonets
was executed with great vigour and the Travancoreans fled from the
field, leaving one brass six-pounder behind them; several other
guns were preserved by the swiftness of the elephants.
On the following day, the troops were thanked in orders 'for the
steady and cool manner in which they met and repulsed the attack of
the enemy.'
After this defeat, in which they lost an immense number of men,
the Travancoreans did not hazard another general attack; but they
frequently endeavoured to surprise the piquets in the night, in
which they were always defeated. On the 13th of February, the
nineteenth regiment arrived from Columbo; and the troops were only
prevented advancing up the country from the want of stores and the
means of conveyance. A small supply having arrived, they advanced
in two columns, the first composed of the TWELFTH and a battalion
of Sepoys, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Picton; and the second, of
the nineteenth and a battalion of Sepoys, under Lieut.-Colonel
Stewart, and by a combined attack they captured the enemy's
stockade and extensive breast-works, in gallant style, on the 21st
of February.
In the meantime another British force had penetrated the
Travancore country under Colonel St. Leger, and this army arrived
at Travandapatam, the capital, without meeting with serious
opposition. The refractory Rajah made overtures for peace, and the
TWELFTH regiment returned to Coulan, detaching the flank companies
to the capital.
The regiment commenced its march for Seringapatam, on the 23rd of
May; but was forced to halt several days in consequence of the
heavy rains of the Malabar monsoon, which rendered the rivers
impassable, swept away part of the regimental baggage, and drowned
several men in the rapid currents which rushed along the low
grounds. On the 24th of July the regiment arrived at Trichinopoly.
[Sidenote: 1810]
In Europe, the war with France was being prosecuted with vigour,
and in the month of March, 1810, the flank companies of the
regiment were completed to one hundred rank and file each, and
marched under Captain Forssteen, for Madras, to take part in an
expedition against the French island of _Bourbon_, situate in
the Indian ocean, about four hundred miles east of Madagascar.
In June the expedition arrived at Rodriguez, and in July came in
sight of the island of Bourbon, when the surf was so high as to
render a landing dangerous; an attempt was, however, made; the
light infantry of the TWELFTH in a small schooner, and about three
hundred men of the thirty-third and sixty-ninth regiments in boats,
approached the shore and effected a landing with the loss of a few
men drowned; but the schooner and boats were dashed to pieces, the
soldiers' ammunition damaged, and many of their arms lost. As no
more men could be landed, Lieutenant Foulkstone of the sixty-ninth
regiment volunteered to swim through the surf and convey orders to
Lieut.-Colonel Macleod, to take possession of _St. Marie_. This
order was instantly obeyed, and the light infantry of the TWELFTH
distinguished themselves in storming the batteries, in which
service they had two private soldiers killed; Lieutenants John
Spinks, and John B. Whannell, with five rank and file wounded. The
grenadier company of the TWELFTH, and other corps afterwards landed
at Grand Chaloupe, and by their spirited conduct, particularly the
gallant behaviour of the eighty-sixth regiment, the reduction of
the island was speedily accomplished.
While the flank companies were engaged in this service, the
regiment was stationed at Wallajahbad, from whence it marched, in
August, to St. Thomas's Mount, and in September to Madras, where
it embarked on board the "Russell," of seventy-four guns, and the
"Cornwallis," "Hesper," "Cornelia," "Bucephalus," and "Clorinde"
frigates, to take part in the expedition against the _Mauritius_,
or _Isle of France_, another island in the Indian sea, belonging
to France; the grenadiers and light infantry of the regiment also
embarked from St. Paul's in the island of Bourbon, to share in
the enterprise. On the 28th of November the armament approached
the Isle of France, and the troops effected a landing in the bay
of Mapon, when one brigade was ordered into a large wood, through
which it was necessary to pass. The light company of the TWELFTH
under Captain Forssteen, preceded by a section under Lieutenant
Ashe, penetrated among the trees, and skirmished with a French
piquet, in which service two men were killed, and Lieutenant
Ashe and three private soldiers wounded. After a march of nine
miles, the light infantry of the TWELFTH halted on some low ground
surrounded by jungle. The weather was very hot, water could not
be procured, and the sufferings of the soldiers, in consequence,
were very severe; but on the following day some alleviation of
suffering was obtained by sucking the dew from the herbage, and
advancing to the powder mills, within five miles of Port Louis, the
capital, clear streams of water were discovered. While halting at
this place, the piquets were attacked by the enemy, when the rifle
company of the TWELFTH, and the light infantry of the fifty-ninth,
dashed forward, and drove back the French skirmishers, wounding
General de Caen.
On the following morning the army advanced, the grenadiers of the
TWELFTH being in front, and the light infantry on the flanks,
under Captains Firth and Forssteen, Lieutenant Keappock commanding
the leading section of grenadiers. While advancing along a narrow
road, through a country covered with underwood, the army was
suddenly assailed with grape shot, from an eminence; but a charge
with bayonets forced the French to withdraw. Arriving at some open
grounds, the British formed line, when the French abandoned their
guns and retreated towards the town, leaving a body of troops on a
mountain on the British left. The TWELFTH were ordered to storm the
height, and they raised a loud shout, and soon gained the summit,
when the French fled, leaving a gun behind them.
The officers and soldiers of the regiment evinced great heroism
in these services; Lieutenant Keappock was wounded in the side,
but continued at his post until a shot in the head forced him
to retire; his honourable, though dangerous post, was taken by
Lieutenant Jenkins, who received a severe contusion on the breast
by a ball, but continued at the head of the leading section.
In this short but brilliant and decisive service, the regiment
had Major Jeremiah O'Keefe, one drummer, and sixteen rank and
file killed; Lieutenants Keappock and Ashe, three serjeants, and
twenty-eight rank and file wounded; five men missing.
The French Governor, General de Caen, seeing no prospect of being
able to make effectual resistance, surrendered the island. This
enterprise was thus successfully accomplished, and the conduct of
the TWELFTH regiment was commended in orders, also in the public
despatch of Major-General Abercromby.
After the surrender of the Isle of France, the flank companies
proceeded to Port Louis, and the battalion companies descended
the Long Mountain, and embarked from Tortue bay, in the "Psyche"
frigate, for Grand Port, where they were joined by the flank
companies, after being separated eleven months.
[Sidenote: 1811]
General Picton died on the 14th of October, 1811, in his
eighty-fourth year, and was succeeded in the Colonelcy of the
TWELFTH foot, by Lieut.-General Sir Charles Hastings, Baronet, from
the seventy-seventh regiment of foot.
The regiment was stationed in the Isle of France during the years
1811 and 1812.
[Sidenote: 1812]
In the meantime the war with France was approaching to a crisis;
Napoleon Bonaparte had attained the summit of power, and the
efforts of Great Britain were commensurate with the importance
of the contest; the army was augmented, and in the autumn of
1811 a _second battalion_ was added to the TWELFTH regiment of
four hundred and fifty-one officers and soldiers, into which the
recruiting companies of the regiment were incorporated.
In the autumn of 1812, the second battalion proceeded to Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1813]
In April, 1813, the first battalion embarked from Port Louis, for
the island of Bourbon, where it was stationed nearly two years.
[Sidenote: 1814]
[Sidenote: 1815]
During this period the tyrannical power of Bonaparte had been
overthrown, and the Bourbon dynasty restored to the throne of
France. On the re-establishment of peace in Europe, the island of
Bourbon was restored to the French monarchy, and in consequence of
this arrangement the regiment embarked from St. Denis on the 3rd of
April, 1815; the French soldiers, who arrived from Europe to take
possession of the island, landing as the British went on board the
ships prepared to receive them.
The Mauritius, or Isle of France, was retained by the British
government, and the TWELFTH foot having been selected to form part
of the garrison of that valuable island, immediately proceeded
thither.
Soon afterwards, Bonaparte quitted the island of Elba, in violation
of his engagements, and regained the throne of France, when the
powers of Europe took arms against the usurper, and his veteran
legions were overpowered in the field of Waterloo by the allied
army under Field Marshal His Grace the Duke of Wellington, on the
18th of June, 1815. To replace the losses of the British army at
Waterloo, additional forces were sent to the continent, and the
second battalion of the TWELFTH regiment, which had returned to
England a few months previously from Ireland, embarked for Flanders
on the 27th of June, under the command of Colonel Julius Stirke;
it landed at Ostend and advanced to Paris, where the campaign was
terminated by the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty to the throne
of France. Peace being again established in Europe, the battalion
returned to England in December.
In June, 1815, the rifle company of the first battalion proceeded
to Bengal, and formed part of a field brigade assembled for
service; it, however, returned to the Mauritius in November.
[Sidenote: 1816]
In January, 1816, the second battalion again proceeded to Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1817]
The first battalion continued to form part of the garrison of the
Mauritius during the year 1816, and the first six months of 1817;
on the 1st of July of the latter year, a serious fire broke out at
Port Louis, when the exertions of the garrison to extinguish the
flames, called forth the admiration and thanks of the inhabitants,
which were communicated to the troops by the governor.
Transports having arrived to convey the regiment to Europe, a
general order was published, in which it was stated, 'Major-General
Sir Edward Butler, in taking leave of the TWELFTH regiment, feels
himself highly gratified in stating, that its conduct, during
its services in this island, has, in every particular, been such
as to meet with his highest approbation, and he begs to assure
Lieut.-Colonel Forssteen, the officers, non-commissioned officers,
and men of the TWELFTH regiment, that they carry with them his
warmest wishes for their prosperity and welfare.'
The regiment sailed from Port Louis on the 25th of July, arrived
at Portsmouth on the 10th of November, and afterwards proceeded to
Cork, where it landed on the 26th of December, after an absence
from Europe of nearly twenty-two years.
A representation of the distinguished services of the regiment
in the Travancore country, and other parts of India, with its
gallantry at the capture of the islands of Bourbon and Mauritius,
procured for it the royal authority to bear the word "INDIA" on its
colours.
[Sidenote: 1818]
From Cork the regiment marched to Athlone, where it arrived on the
9th of January, 1818; and joined the second battalion, which was
stationed at that place.
[Sidenote: 1820]
On the 16th of January the second battalion was disbanded at
Athlone, transferring six hundred and sixty men to the first
battalion. The regiment performed duty in the counties of Cork,
Limerick, and Clare, until June, 1820, when it marched to Dublin.
In the autumn of the same year, the regiment embarked for England;
it landed at Liverpool, and was afterwards stationed at Manchester
and Macclesfield.
[Sidenote: 1821]
On the regiment quitting these quarters, in February, 1821,
Major-General Sir James Lyon stated, in a letter to Lieut.-Colonel
Forssteen, 'Although the TWELFTH foot have been stationed but a
short time in this place, I cannot refrain from expressing to you,
that no military change could have given me more concern than their
departure. I have had every opportunity of observing their uniform
good conduct and strict attention to every branch of discipline,
and nothing but satisfaction has ever been manifested to me by the
civil authorities, and the inhabitants in general, on the very
exemplary behaviour of the men. I beg of you to make known to the
corps, the value I attach to the honor of having had a regiment of
such high character placed under my orders, and that I must ever
take an interest in its welfare and success.'
From Lancashire, the regiment marched to Portsmouth, where it
embarked for Jersey and Guernsey.
[Sidenote: 1822]
[Sidenote: 1823]
While stationed at these islands, the appearance of the regiment,
the conduct of the men, and the excellent system of interior
economy which existed in the corps, elicited the commendations of
Major-General Sir Colin Halkett, at the inspections in October,
1821, May and October, 1822; and when the TWELFTH were about to
return to England, in May, 1823, the Major-General repeated his
expressions of approbation, with his warm interest in the welfare
of the corps. The conduct of the four companies at Guernsey, under
Major Bayley, was also specially commended by the Lieut.-Governor,
Colonel Sir John Colborne.
On arriving in England, the regiment was stationed at Chatham and
Sheerness until October, when it proceeded to Fort Cumberland.
On the decease of General Sir Charles Hastings, Baronet, the
Colonelcy was conferred on Lieut.-General the Honorable Robert
Meade, from the ninetieth regiment, by commission dated the 9th of
October, 1823.
The regiment having received orders to transfer its services
to Gibraltar, the scene of its former triumphs, it embarked on
board of His Majesty's Ships "Ganges" and "Superb," on the 8th of
November, and arrived at that celebrated fortress on the 25th of
the same month.
[Sidenote: 1825]
In 1825, the establishment of the regiment was augmented from eight
to ten companies, _six_ to be considered _service companies_ and
remain at Gibraltar, and _four depôt_ companies to be stationed in
the United Kingdom; in consequence of this arrangement the officers
and non-commissioned officers of two companies were sent to England.
[Sidenote: 1827]
A new pair of Colours having been provided for the regiment, and
bearing the following honorary distinctions, the words "MINDEN,"
"GIBRALTAR" with the Castle and Key and the motto '_Montis Insignia
Calpé_,' "SERINGAPATAM" and "INDIA," they were presented to the
corps, on the 28th of June, 1827, by General Sir George Don, who
addressed the commanding officer (Major-Turberville), the officers,
and soldiers, to the following effect:--
'It appears by the record of the TWELFTH Regiment, to which I
have the honor of presenting these colours, that among the many
valiant deeds of the corps, it achieved distinguished glory at
the battle of _Minden_. In 1797 I attended the renowned Duke
of Brunswick on the spot where this battle was fought; after
His Serene Highness had shown me the position occupied by the
British, he said, _It was here the conflict was most obstinate
and it was here that the British Infantry gained immortal glory_.
This Rock, and Seringapatam, were afterwards among the scenes
where the TWELFTH Regiment distinguished itself, and which are
immortalized in the history of our country. Being myself a soldier
of fifty-seven years' standing, I am alive to every instance of
meritorious conduct in my brother soldiers, and it is extremely
gratifying to me to reflect, that the TWELFTH Regiment, which so
early established its fame, has continued to augment it on every
occasion; and I am confident that whenever these Colours shall
be displayed before an enemy, the regiment will, by its valiant
conduct, add to the number of glorious records with which they are
graced.'
[Sidenote: 1828]
In 1828 the garrison of Gibraltar was afflicted with a severe
epidemic fever, which occasioned the death of upwards of five
hundred soldiers; the inhabitants suffered much more severely than
the troops. During the prevalence of the disease, the TWELFTH were
encamped for four months on the neutral ground, where they were
reviewed on the 27th of December, by the Lieut.-Governor Sir
George Don, who expressed to Lieut.-Colonel Bayley, his entire
approbation of the appearance of the corps, of its discipline, and
interior economy. Eight officers, and two hundred and eighteen
non-commissioned officers and soldiers, had been afflicted with
the fever, of which number, two officers (Lieutenant Forssteen and
Ensign Werge) and fifty-three soldiers had died.
[Sidenote: 1834]
The regiment remained at Gibraltar until the spring of 1834, when
it embarked for England, and landed at Portsmouth, from whence it
marched to Winchester, and during the winter into Lancashire.
[Sidenote: 1835]
[Sidenote: 1836]
In November 1835, the regiment embarked at Liverpool for Ireland;
it landed at Dublin, and was quartered in that city until October
1836, when it proceeded to Athlone.
[Sidenote: 1837]
The regiment was again divided into six service and four depôt
companies in the summer of 1837; and in August, the service
companies embarked at Cork for the Mauritius, where they arrived in
December, and landed at Port Louis.
[Sidenote: 1838]
During the year 1838 the depôt companies were stationed at Kinsale
and Tralee.
[Sidenote: 1839]
On the augmentation of the army in August, 1839, the establishment
of the TWELFTH was increased to forty-seven serjeants, fourteen
drummers, and eight hundred rank and file.
[Sidenote: 1840]
[Sidenote: 1841]
In May, 1839, the depôt companies embarked at Cork for Wales,
and continued to be stationed at Newtown, Builth, and Brecon,
until May, 1840, when they proceeded to Scotland and occupied the
barracks at Paisley until May, 1841, when they returned to South
Britain and were stationed at Sunderland.
[Sidenote: 1842]
In April, 1842, the TWELFTH Regiment having been augmented to an
establishment of one lieut.-colonel, twelve captains, fourteen
lieutenants, ten ensigns, six staff officers, sixty-seven
serjeants, twenty-five drummers, and twelve hundred rank and file,
was ordered to be separated into two battalions; the six service
companies abroad being termed the First battalion, and the depôt,
augmented to six companies, being styled the Reserve battalion.
[Sidenote: 1843]
The depôt was consequently removed from Sunderland to Weedon in
May, 1842, and receiving 255 volunteers from other corps, was there
organised for foreign service. The reserve battalion embarked from
Portsmouth in the "Java" transport for the Mauritius in November,
1842, under the command of Major Sir Robert Douglas, Bart., but was
disembarked at the Cape of Good Hope, and remained there until May,
1843, when it proceeded to its original destination.
[Sidenote: 1847]
On the 2nd of November, 1847, Her Majesty's Troopship "Resistance"
arrived with the first battalion of the Fifth Fusiliers for the
purpose of relieving the first battalion of the TWELFTH Regiment,
which embarked from the Mauritius on the 16th of December, under
the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Patton.
[Sidenote: 1848]
The first battalion arrived at Spithead on the 1st of March, 1848,
and disembarked on the 3rd of March at Portsmouth, where it was
joined by the depôt company from the Isle of Wight. The reserve
battalion, after being completed by the transfer of effective men
from the first battalion, continued at the Mauritius.
SUCCESSION OF COLONELS
OF THE
TWELFTH, OR EAST SUFFOLK
REGIMENT OF FOOT.
HENRY DUKE OF NORFOLK, K. G.
_Appointed 20th of June, 1685._
HENRY HOWARD, son of Henry sixth Duke of Norfolk, sat in the
House of Lords by the title of Lord Mowbray, in the lifetime of
his father, and on the death of Prince Rupert, in 1682, he was
nominated Governor and Constable of Windsor Castle and Warden
of the forest at Windsor, also Lord-lieutenant of the counties
of Berks and Surrey. On the decease of his father, in 1684, he
succeeded to the dignity of DUKE OF NORFOLK, and of Earl Marshal of
England, and he was also constituted Lord-lieutenant of Norfolk.
On the accession of King James II., he was one of the peers who
signed the order for His Majesty's proclamation, and he was
shortly afterwards elected a Knight Companion of the most noble
Order of the Garter. He took an active part in favour of the King,
on the breaking out of the rebellion of James Duke of Monmouth,
and interested himself in the raising of a corps of pikemen and
musketeers, now TWELFTH foot, of which he was appointed colonel,
and of which his garrison company at Windsor Castle formed a part.
In a few months after tranquillity was restored, he relinquished
the command of the regiment, but continued to attend at court, and
witnessed, with painful emotions, the predilection of the King in
favour of papacy and arbitrary government. On one occasion His
Majesty gave the Duke of Norfolk the sword of state to carry before
him to the Roman Catholic chapel; but on arriving at the door, His
Grace stopped, not being willing to enter the chapel, when the King
said, "My Lord, your father would have gone further;" to which the
Duke replied, "Your Majesty's father was the better man, and he
would not have gone so far."[21]
The DUKE OF NORFOLK continued faithful to the interests of the
Protestant religion, and was one of the peers who invited the
Prince of Orange to come to England with an army to oppose the
proceedings of the court. When the Prince landed, His Grace was in
London, and signed the petition to the King for a free Parliament;
His Majesty replied, "They should have a Parliament, and such
a one as they asked for, when the Prince of Orange had quitted
the realm:" and commenced his journey, on the same day, to place
himself at the head of his army. His Grace set out for his seat in
Norfolk, declared for the Prince of Orange, and brought over that,
and some of the neighbouring counties, to the Prince's interest.
On the accession of the Prince and Princess of Orange to the
throne, His Grace was sworn a member of the privy council, and he
took an active part in raising a regiment for the King's service,
now the Twenty-second foot, of which he was appointed Colonel, by
commission dated the 16th of March, 1689. He died on the 2nd of
April, 1701.
EDWARD EARL OF LICHFIELD.
_Appointed 14th June, 1686._
SIR EDWARD HENRY LEE, of Ditchley, Baronet, was advanced to the
peerage by King Charles II., in 1674, by the titles of Baron of
Spelsbury, in the county of Bucks, and EARL OF LICHFIELD. He was
appointed one of the Lords of the bedchamber to King James II.,
also Custos Rotulorum for the county of Oxford, high steward of
the borough of Woodstock, and lord-lieutenant of Woodstock park.
In 1686 he succeeded the Duke of Norfolk in the colonelcy of the
regiment, now TWELFTH foot, which he continued to command until
November, 1688, when, being a staunch supporter of the measures of
the court, he was removed to the colonelcy of the first regiment of
foot guards, which he only held a few weeks, the Prince of Orange
conferring that appointment on the Duke of Grafton. The Earl of
Lichfield was not afterwards employed in a military capacity. He
died on the 14th of July, 1716.
ROBERT LORD HUNSDON.
_Appointed 30th November, 1688._
SIR ROBERT CAREY, Knight, served in a military capacity in the
reign of King Charles II., and succeeded, on the decease of John
Earl of Dover without issue, to the dignity of LORD HUNSDON. He
was one of the supporters of the measures of King James II., who
appointed him Lieut.-Colonel of the old Holland regiment (now Third
foot) in 1685, and in November, 1688, promoted him to the colonelcy
of the TWELFTH foot, from which he was removed, at the Revolution,
by the Prince of Orange. He died in 1692.
HENRY WHARTON.
_Appointed 31st December, 1688._
HENRY WHARTON served in the foot guards in the reign of King
Charles II., and in the summer of 1685, when the Duke of Monmouth
raised the standard of rebellion in the west of England, he raised
a company of foot for the service of King James II., which was
incorporated in the Duke of Norfolk's regiment. He proved a very
zealous and determined supporter of the interests of the Protestant
religion, and on the 31st of December, 1688, the Prince of Orange
promoted him to the Colonelcy of the regiment. He served in
Ireland under Marshal Duke Schomberg, signalized himself at the
siege of Carrickfergus, and evinced, on all occasions, so much
personal bravery and spirit of enterprise, united with a generous
disposition and a kind regard for the interests of his soldiers,
that he was beloved by his regiment. He died at Dundalk in October,
1689, much regretted by the officers and men of his regiment.
RICHARD BREWER.
_Appointed 1st November, 1689._
RICHARD BREWER raised a company of pikemen and musketeers for Sir
Edward Hales's regiment, now Fourteenth foot, in the summer of
1685, and served in that corps until the Revolution. He prized the
established religion and constitution of his country too highly
to permit himself to aid in their destruction, and he espoused
the principles of the Revolution with great warmth. On the 31st
of December, 1688, he was promoted to the Lieut.-Colonelcy of the
TWELFTH foot, with which corps he served in Ireland, and evinced
signal bravery on several occasions, for which he was rewarded
with the Colonelcy of the regiment on the 1st of November, 1689.
He commanded the TWELFTH regiment, at the battle of the Boyne
in 1690, also in the action at Lanesborough, and was appointed
commandant at Mullingar, near which place the troops, under his
immediate command, had several rencounters with detachments of
the enemy. He continued to serve in Ireland until the deliverance
of that country from the power of King James was accomplished,
and in 1692 he commanded his regiment in the expedition under
the Duke of Leinster. He also served at the head of his regiment
in the Netherlands, during the campaign of 1694; in the attack
on Fort Kenoque, and the defence of Dixmude in 1695 (on which
last-mentioned occasion he opposed the Governor, in the resolution
to surrender), and in the protection of the maritime towns of
Flanders in 1696. After the peace of Ryswick, he proceeded with his
regiment to Ireland; and on the breaking out of the war, in the
reign of Queen Anne, he retired from the service.
JOHN LIVESAY.
_Appointed 28th September, 1702._
This officer was appointed Lieutenant in the royal fusiliers
in 1685; he served in the army during the wars of King William
III., and was distinguished for gallantry and a strict attention
to duty on all occasions, and these qualities were rewarded by
Queen Anne, in September, 1702, with the colonelcy of the TWELFTH
regiment, which he commanded in the West Indies in 1703, 1704, and
1705. On the 1st of January, 1707, he was promoted to the rank of
Brigadier-General, and on the 1st of January, 1710, to that of
Major-General. Political events, connected with the removal of
the celebrated John Duke of Marlborough from the command of the
army, and the measures pursued by the new ministry of Queen Anne,
occasioned Major-General Livesay to retire from the command of the
regiment in 1712. He died on the 22nd of February, 1718.
RICHARD PHILLIPS.
_Appointed 16th March, 1712._
RICHARD PHILLIPS entered the army in September, 1669, and at
the augmentation of the army, on the declaration of war against
France and Spain, in 1702, he was promoted to the command of a
company in one of the corps raised on that occasion. He proceeded
with his regiment (Brettons, afterwards disbanded) to the relief
of Barcelona in 1706; served in Spain under the Earl of Galway,
in 1707, and was taken prisoner at the battle of Almanza. He
subsequently served with his company on board the fleet as marines,
and was promoted to the Lieut.-Colonelcy of the regiment. Queen
Anne rewarded his services, in 1712, with the colonelcy of the
TWELFTH foot, from which he was removed, in 1717, to the fortieth
regiment, then newly formed of independent companies, at Placentia,
Annapolis, and other parts of America. He was promoted to the rank
of Brigadier-General in 1735, to that of Major-General in 1739, and
to that of Lieut.-General in 1742. In 1750, he was removed to the
thirty-eighth foot. He died in January, 1751.
THOMAS STANWIX.
_Appointed 25th August, 1717._
THOMAS STANWIX served in the Netherlands, with reputation, under
King William III., and afterwards in Holland and Germany under
the celebrated John Duke of Marlborough. In April, 1706, he was
commissioned to raise, form, and discipline a regiment of foot,
in Ireland, with which corps he embarked from Cork, in May, 1707,
for Portugal, where he served under the Marquis de Montandre, the
Marquis de Fronterira, and the Earl of Galway. In 1709 he was at
the battle of the Caya, where his regiment highly distinguished
itself, and in 1710 he commanded the storming party at the capture
of Xeres de los Cavaleras: at the peace of Utrecht his regiment
was disbanded. In 1715, when the partisans of the Pretender sought
to elevate him to the throne, Colonel Stanwix was commissioned to
raise a regiment of foot, for the service of King George I., and in
July, 1717, he was removed to the thirtieth regiment, which he only
commanded five weeks, when he was appointed to the TWELFTH foot. He
died 14th of March, 1725.
THOMAS WHETHAM.
_Appointed 22nd March, 1725._
This officer obtained a commission in Sir William Clifton's
regiment, now fifteenth foot, on the breaking out of the rebellion
of James Duke of Monmouth, in June, 1685; and he served under King
William in Ireland and Flanders, where he acquired a reputation
for gallantry and attention to all his duties. On the 29th of
August, 1702, Queen Anne rewarded him with the colonelcy of the
Twenty-seventh regiment of foot, with which corps he served in the
West Indies in 1703 and 1704, and was engaged in the unsuccessful
attack on the island of Guadaloupe. In 1707 he was promoted to the
rank of Brigadier-General, and in 1710 to that of Major-General; he
served in Spain during the latter part of the war of succession,
commanded the garrison of the island of Minorca for a short period;
and in 1715, and 1716, he commanded a brigade of infantry in
Scotland, under the Duke of Argyle, during the rebellion of the
Earl of Mar. In 1725, he was removed to the TWELFTH foot, and in
1727 he obtained the rank of Lieut.-General; he was promoted to
the rank of general in 1739, and was governor of Berwick and Holy
Island for several years. He died on the 28th of April, 1741.
SCIPIO DUROURE.
_Appointed 12th August, 1741._
SCIPIO DUROURE obtained a commission in the army in December, 1705,
and he had the advantage of serving three campaigns under the
celebrated John Duke of Marlborough. He served many years in the
TWELFTH foot, of which corps he was appointed Lieut.-Colonel on
the 25th of August, 1734; he was also appointed captain and keeper
of the castle of St. Maws (or Moss), and promoted to the colonelcy
of the TWELFTH regiment in 1741. He distinguished himself at the
battle of Dettingen in 1743, and behaved with great gallantry, at
the head of his regiment, at the battle of Fontenoy, in 1745, where
he was mortally wounded.
HENRY SKELTON.
_Appointed 28th May, 1745._
HENRY SKELTON entered the army in December, 1708, and served two
campaigns in the Netherlands. He was many years an officer in
the third foot guards, was promoted Major of the regiment with
the rank of Colonel in the army, in 1739, and in April, 1743,
he was advanced to Lieut.-Colonel in the same corps. In August
following, King George II. rewarded him with the colonelcy of the
thirty-second regiment; His Majesty also promoted him to the rank
of Major-General, and removed him to the TWELFTH foot in 1745, and
advanced him to the rank of Lieut.-General in 1747. He died on the
9th of April, 1757.
ROBERT NAPIER.
_Appointed 22nd April, 1757._
ROBERT NAPIER was appointed ensign in the second foot, on
the 9th of May, 1722, and after performing regimental duty
a few years, he was placed on the staff, and employed in
the Quarter-Master-General's Department. In 1745, he was
promoted to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel, and appointed Deputy
Quarter-Master-General; in 1746, he was advanced to the rank of
Colonel, and he was afterwards appointed Adjutant-General of
the forces. In 1755, King George II. appointed him colonel of
a newly-raised regiment, now fifty-first foot; in 1756 he was
promoted to the rank of Major-General, and in 1757, he was removed
to the TWELFTH foot. In 1759, he was promoted to the rank of
Lieut.-General. He died in November, 1766.
HENRY CLINTON.
_Appointed 21st November, 1766._
HENRY CLINTON, grandson of Francis, sixth Earl of Lincoln, served
in an independent company of foot at New York, and in 1751 he was
appointed Lieutenant and Captain in the second foot guards, from
which he was promoted, in 1758, to Captain and Lieut.-Colonel in
the first foot guards. He served in Germany during the seven years'
war, was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1762, and in 1766 he
obtained the colonelcy of the TWELFTH foot. He was promoted, in
1772, to the rank of Major-General. On the commencement of the
American war, in 1775, he was sent with reinforcements to Boston,
with the local rank of Lieut.-General, and at the battle of
Bunker's Hill he joined the troops engaged with additional forces
from Boston during the conflict, and contributed materially to the
gaining of the victory. He afterwards proceeded to North Carolina,
with the local rank of General; assumed the command of the troops
which arrived from Great Britain, and in 1776 he undertook the
reduction of Charleston, but was not able to accomplish his object
from the want of a sufficient force. He then joined General
Sir William Howe, was engaged in the reduction of Long Island,
and commanded the leading column of the army at the battle of
Brooklyn. General Clinton also commanded the division which took
possession of New York Island, was at White Plains and other
engagements, also commanded the troops which took Rhode Island,
and was rewarded with the dignity of Knight of the Bath. In 1777
he commanded at New York, and, in order to create a diversion in
favour of General Burgoyne's army, he proceeded up the river and
captured Forts Clinton and Montgomery. In the following spring he
was nominated Commander-in-Chief in North America, and assuming
the command of the army at Philadelphia, marched from thence to
New York, repulsing the attacks of the enemy during the movement.
In the winter of 1778, he was removed from the TWELFTH foot to the
command of a corps of Royal Highland Emigrants, and in 1779 he was
appointed Colonel of the seventh, or Queen's Own Light Dragoons.
The departure of the French Fleet from North America enabled
General Sir Henry Clinton to fit out an expedition against
Charleston, which he captured in 1780, for which he received the
thanks of Parliament, and this success was followed by important
results in North and South Carolina; but the tide of success did
not long flow in favour of the British cause, and some reverses
taking place, he was succeeded as Commander-in-Chief in North
America by General Carleton. He arrived in England in June,
1782, and afterwards published a vindication of his conduct. The
appointment of Governor of Limerick was conferred upon General Sir
Henry Clinton; he was also groom of the bedchamber to the Duke of
Gloucester, and was many years a member of Parliament; in 1795, he
was appointed Governor of Gibraltar. He died in December of the
same year.
WILLIAM PICTON.
_Appointed 21st April, 1779._
The first services of this officer were in the marines, in which
corps he was promoted to the rank of Captain, in March, 1755, and
in August, 1756, he was appointed Captain of the grenadier company
in the TWELFTH foot. He served at the head of his company, in
Germany, during the seven years' war, and evinced great gallantry
on numerous occasions. In 1762, he was promoted Major, and in
1765, Lieut.-Colonel of his regiment. He performed all the duties
of commanding officer of the TWELFTH regiment, in the United
Kingdom and afterwards at Gibraltar, with reputation to himself and
advantage to the service, for thirteen years, and in 1778 he was
appointed Colonel of the seventy-fifth foot, then newly raised, and
afterwards disbanded: in the following year he was removed to the
TWELFTH regiment.
King George III. frequently selected individuals of merit on whom
he conferred distinguished marks of his Royal approbation, and the
promotion of Colonel Picton furnishes an instance of His Majesty's
attention to meritorious services, which had not the advantage
of Ministerial or Parliamentary patronage. When appointed to the
colonelcy of the TWELFTH, Colonel Picton went to Court, and after
kissing His Majesty's hand at the levee, he was admitted to an
audience in the King's closet, when he acknowledged, in grateful
terms, the honor conferred upon him; and His Majesty replied, "You
are entirely obliged to Captain Picton, who commanded the grenadier
company of the TWELFTH regiment, in the late war in Germany;" at
the same time alluding particularly to his gallantry at Zierenberg,
for which he was thanked in general orders.[22]
After this interview, he joined his regiment at Gibraltar, and
distinguished himself in the defence of that fortress, under
General Eliott.
In 1782, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General, in 1793 to
that of Lieut.-General, and in 1798 to that of General. He died in
1811.
SIR CHARLES HASTINGS, BARONET.
_Appointed 15th October, 1811._
CHARLES HASTINGS, natural son of Francis, tenth Earl of Huntingdon,
was appointed Ensign in the TWELFTH foot in July 1770, and joined
the regiment at Gibraltar. In 1776 he was promoted Lieutenant,
and he was permitted to serve with the twenty-third regiment in
America, where he was appointed Aide-de-Camp to Earl Percy, and
afterwards to Sir Henry Clinton. He was at the actions at Pelham
Manor and White Plains, and at the capture of Fort Washington;
also in the successful expedition against the American magazines
at Danbury. He accompanied Sir William Howe to Pennsylvania, was
engaged at Brandywine and Germantown, and was twice wounded. In
1780 he was promoted Captain in the TWELFTH foot, and joined his
regiment at Gibraltar, where he had several opportunities of
distinguishing himself during the siege of that fortress, and
he evinced great gallantry at the sortie in November, 1781. In
1782, he was appointed Major in the seventy-sixth; in 1783 he was
promoted to Lieut.-Colonel in the seventy-second, which regiment
was disbanded in the same year. He obtained the Lieut.-Colonelcy
of the thirty-fourth regiment in 1786, and was afterwards removed
to the sixty-first, and subsequently to the sixty-fifth. He
was promoted to the rank of Major-General in 1796, and to that
of Lieut.-General in 1803. In February, 1806, he was created
a BARONET, of Willesley Hall, in the county of Derby; and in
November following he was appointed Colonel of the fourth garrison
battalion, from which he was removed to the seventy-seventh
regiment in July, 1811; and in October following, to the TWELFTH
foot. In 1813 he was promoted to the rank of General. He died in
1823.
HONORABLE ROBERT MEADE.
_Appointed 9th October, 1823._
FOOTNOTES:
[6] In the Duke of Berwick's memoirs, it is erroneously stated that
Colonel Wolseley had 3000 foot and 300 horse with him.
[7] List of regiments in the West Indies in the summer of 1703:--
Columbine's, now sixth.
Livesay's, now twelfth.
Erle's, now nineteenth.
Handasyd's, now twenty-second.
Whetham's, now twenty-seventh.
Donegal's, now thirty-fifth.
Charlemont's, now thirty-sixth.
Hamilton's, afterwards disbanded.
[8] List of troops employed in the expedition under Major-General
Erle.
Foot embarked from the Isle of Wight:--
Livesay's, now twelfth.
Farrington's, now twenty-ninth.
Hamilton's, afterwards disbanded.
Johnson's, " "
Moore's, afterwards disbanded.
Caulfield's, " "
Townshend's, " "
Wynne's, " "
Dragoons embarked from Dover:--
Carpenter's, now third.
Essex's, now fourth.
[9] The second battalions of the regiments undermentioned were
formed into distinct corps, in April, 1758, and numbered from 61st
to 75th regiments, as shown in the following list, viz.:--
2 Batt. 3rd Foot, constituted 61 reg.
" 4th " " 62 "
" 8th " " 63 "
" 11th " " 64 "
" 12th " " 65 "
" 19th " " 66 "
" 20th " " 67 "
" 23rd " " 68 "
2 Batt. 24th Foot, constituted 69 reg.
" 31st " " 70 "
" 32nd " " 71 "
" 33rd " " 72 "
" 34th " " 73 "
" 36th " " 74 "
" 37th " " 75 "
The above 71st, 72nd, 73rd, 74th, and 75th regiments were disbanded
in the Year 1763, after the peace of Fontainbleau.
[10] 'Notwithstanding the loss they sustained before they could
get up to the enemy; notwithstanding the repeated attacks of the
enemy's cavalry; notwithstanding a fire of musketry well kept up by
the enemy's infantry; notwithstanding their being exposed in front
and flank, such was the unshaken firmness of those troops (12th,
20th, 23rd, 25th, 37th, 51st, and brigade of Hanoverians) that
nothing could stop them, and the whole body of French cavalry was
totally routed.'--_Campaigns of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick._
[11] 'The brunt of the battle was almost wholly sustained by the
English infantry and some corps of Hanoverians, who stood the
reiterated charges of so many bodies of horse, the strength and
glory of the French armies, with a resolution, steadiness, and
expertness in their manœuvres, which was never exceeded, perhaps
never equalled: they cut to pieces, or entirely routed those
bodies. Two brigades of foot attempted to support them; but they
vanished before the English infantry.'--_Annual Register._
'Six regiments of English infantry, and two battalions of
Hanoverian guards, not only bore the whole brunt of the French
carabineers and gendarmerie, but absolutely broke every body of
horse and foot that advanced to attack them on the left and in the
centre.'--_Smollett._
[12] The six British regiments of infantry, which took part in the
glorious battle of MINDEN, were the 12th, 20th, 23rd, 25th, 37th,
and 51st regiments.
[13] London Gazette.
[14] Strength of the Garrison of Gibraltar at the commencement of
the Blockade, 21st June, 1779:--
British. Officers. Men.
Royal Artillery 25 460
Royal Engineers 8 114
12th Foot 29 570
39th " 29 557
56th " 27 560
58th " 28 577
72nd " (Royal Manchester
Volunteers,) disbanded in 1783 33 1013
---- ---- 4030
Hanoverian.
Hardenberg's Regiment 29 423
Reden's " 27 417
De La Motte's " 33 423
---- ---- 1352
Total ---- 5382
[15] The Siege of Gibraltar, by Captain Drinkwater, of the late
seventy-second regiment, who was in garrison at the time.
[16] It is a remarkable circumstance that the TWELFTH foot, and the
Hanoverian regiment of Hardenberg, fought alongside each other at
the battle of Minden, and they were the only two entire regiments
employed in the sortie from Gibraltar.
[17] _Vide_ the Record of the Third Foot, or the Buffs, from page
69 to 74.
[18] CALPÉ, in the south of Spain, and ABYLA, on the opposite Coast
of Africa, (about eighteen miles distant) were celebrated as the
_Pillars of Hercules_; and according to heathen mythology, these
two mountains were united, until that hero separated them, and
made a communication between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic
seas. CALPÉ received the present designation of Gibraltar from the
Arabic "_Gib-el-Tarif_," or "_Mountain of Tarif_," being the spot
where that Moorish Chieftain landed on his invasion of Spain in the
Year 711. The device of the "_Castle and Key_," the present arms
of Gibraltar, was given by Henry IV., King of Castile, upon his
capturing the place from the King of Granada in 1462, in allusion
to its being the Key to the Mediterranean.
[19] The proper name of that city is _Siri Runga Patan_.
[20] The following regiments received the Royal permission to
bear on their standards, colours, and appointments, the word
"_Seringapatam_," in commemoration of their gallantry in the
storming and capture of that city and fortress on the 4th May,
1799; viz.--the 19th and 22nd (late 25th), Light Dragoons; the
12th, 33rd, 73rd, 74th, 75th, 77th regiments, and the Scots
Brigade, afterwards the 94th regiment.
[21] Bishop Burnet.
[22] On the decease of General Picton, a manuscript account of this
interview with King George III. was found among his papers.
LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES & SONS, STAMFORD STREET,
FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.
* * * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
The first page of the book ("HISTORICAL RECORD ..."), and the page
after the Introduction, are virtually identical--there are some
slight variations in font sizes--and both have been retained in
the etext.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example,
daylight, day-light; Field Marshal, Field-Marshal; situate;
negociations; rencounters.
Pg xxiii, 'SERINGAPTAM' replaced by 'SERINGAPATAM'.
Pg 36, 'on this ocasion' replaced by 'on this occasion'.
Pg 50, 'additional orces' replaced by 'additional forces'.
Pg 53, 'TWELTFH foot continued' replaced by 'TWELFTH foot continued'.
Pg 60, '[Sidenote: 1799]' moved up 3 paragraphs.
Pg 70, 'againt England' replaced by 'against England'.
Pg 95, 'stanch supporter' replaced by 'staunch supporter'.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Historical Record of the Twelfth, or the East Suffolk, Regiment of Foot, Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1685, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1847" ***
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